'    iliP 


(UBRARY] 
UNIVf       -IV  OF 
CAHHJRNIA 
SAN  DIEGO       5 


My  DOGS  IN  THE  NORTHLAND 


LGSRTON    R.    YOUNG    IN    WINTER    DRESS. 


MY  DOGS  IN  THE 
NORTH  LAN  D 


BY 

EGERTON  R; YOUNG 

Atithor  of 

ON   THE  INDIAN   TRAIL,"    "  THE  APOSTLE  OF 
THE  NORTH,"    "THREE  BOYS  IN   THE 
WILD   NORTHLAND,"  ETC, 


NEW    YORK          CHICAGO          TORONTO 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


FIFTH  EDITION 


Copyright,     1902,     by 

FLEMING    H.     REVELL    COMPANY 

(September) 


Dedicated 

to 

My  Dear  Wife  and  Children, 

partners  with  me  in  many  of  the  scenes 

herein  related. 


INTRODUCTION 

ALL  the  dogs  of  which  I  here  write 
are  dead.  Was  it  not  Sir  Walter 
Scott  who  said,  "  I  hate  to  love  a 
dog,  he  lives  so  short  a  life? "  Yet  Sir 
Walter  did  love  dogs  with  rare  devotion, 
as  the  traditions  of  Abbotsford,  as  well  as 
much  that  he  himself  has  written,  affirm. 

When  a  lad  I  was  not  allowed  to  keep  a 
dog.  My  father  in  his  early  manhood  days 
saw  a  man  smothered  to  death  between  two 
great  feather  beds  because  he  was  a  hope- 
less victim  of  hydrophobia,  caused  by  the 
bite  of  a  mad  dog.  So  no  dog  was  allowed 
in  our  home. 

Fortunately  for  us  boys,  or  rather  for 
the  dogs,  we  (and  there  were  only  seven  of 
us)  were  all  very  fond  of  these  prohibited 
animals,  and  were  ever  ready  to  lend  our 
jackknives  or  skates  to  any  neighbouring 
boy  if  he  would  only  let  us  play  with  his 
dog. 

It  was  a  marvellous  transition  from  that 
country  parsonage  wrhere  the  joyous  bark 
7 


8  Introduction 

of  a  canine  friend,  "  The  first  to  welcome, 
the  foremost  to  defend,"  was  never  heard, 
to  the  wild  adventurous  life  in  the  North- 
land. There,  in  the  first  business  transac- 
tion with  my  predecessor,  I  was  told  that 
there  were  a  dozen  dogs  and  puppies  of 
Huskie  breed,  outside,  anxious  to  make  my 
acquaintance ! 

It  is  a  trite  saying  that  "  all  things  come 
to  him  who  waits."  It  was  correct  in  this 
case  anyway,  for  the  man  who  as  a  boy  had 
peremptorily  been  refused  the  possession  of 
the  smallest  puppy  now  entered  into  the 
ownership  of  a  pack  of  cunning  rascals  who 
were  quite  competent  to  test  his  patience 
and  sharpen  his  wits. 

If  in  Nature's  broad  domains  there  is  a 
place  for  everything,  we  think  that  the 
natural  home  of  the  large  dog  is  in  the  cold 
Northland.  There,  during  those  long  win- 
ters he  can  work  and  thus  prove  his  right 
to  a  comfortable  living.  Amidst  the  bliz- 
zards of  the  Arctic  frosts  often  exposed  to 
hardships  and  privations  that  no  other  crea- 
ture than  man  and  himself  could  stand, 
there  he  thrives,  and  endures  and  with  his 
master,  triumphs. 

For  years,  with  great  dogs,  I  toiled  and 


Introduction  9 

often  with  them  was  in  great  perils.  Much 
of  my  work  was  accomplished  by  their  aid. 
So  I  believe  in  dogs,  and  here  in  this  book 
I  have  written  of  some  of  them  and  their 
deeds. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

I.  MY  ESKIMO  OB  HUSKIE  Doas.     .       .        .  17 
II.  WITH   WILD   ESKIMO    DOGS   UNDER   THB 

AURORA 30 

III.  ROBBER  DOGS  AND  AN  INDIAN  COUNCIL      .  46 

IV.  JACK,  THE  GIANT  ST.  BERNARD.         .        .  66 
V.  JACK,  AND  MANY  THINGS  CONCERNING  HIM  80 

VI.  JACK  TRIUMPHANT  IN  THE  BLIZZARD.        .        96 

VII.  JACK  IN  CIVILIZATION 113 

VIII.  CUFFY,    THE    BEAUTIFUL     NEWFOUNDLAND 

DOG -125 

IX.  VOYAGEUR,  THE  MATCHLESS  LEADER.        .      143 

X.  VOYAGEUR,  THE  BROKEN-HEARTED.    .        .      164 

XI.  ROVER  I,  THE  SUCCESSFUL  DOG  DOCTOR.  .       173 

XII.  ROVER  II,  ALSO  CALLED  KIMO.  .        .        .184 

XIII.  MUFF,  THE  AFFECTIONATE  MOTHER  DOG.  .      195 

XIV.  CAESAR,  THE  CLEVER  RASCAL.     .        .        .210 
XV.  KOONA,  THE  ESKIMO  LEADER.      .        .        .      230 

XVI.  TRAVELLING  WITH  DOGS  IN  NORTHERN  WILDS  243 

XVII.  STILL  ON  THE  TRAIL  WITH  THE  DOGS.        .      260 

XVIII.  OUR  DOGS  IN  SUMMER  TIME.      .        .        .270 

XIX.  Cm  BONO?    .  278 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing  Page 

Dr.  Young  in  Winter  Dress Title 

They  Dashed  in  Wild  Excitement  After  the  Fox. .     40 

I  Belaboured  Him  With  the  Oak  Whip-handle 42 

It  Was  a  Wild,  Mad  Leap 44 

A  Half-dozen  Wild  Looking  Indians  Rushed  into 

Our   Midst 55 

Dr.  Young  and  Jack 66 

Jumping  Around  the  Fire  Like  a  Dancing  Bear.  ...     90 

A  Ride  in  a  Wild,  Howling  Blizzard 106 

Dr.  Young  and  Cuffy 126 

The  Lordly  Pines  in  Winter  Dress 245 

Still  on  the  Trail  With  the  Dogs 260 

A  Medicine  Man...  ..  280 


My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 


MY  ESKIMO  OR  HUSKIE  DOGS 

THEY  haunt  me  to  this  very  day — 
those  Eskimo  dogs !  I  wake  up  some- 
times in  the  night  with  a  start,  for  I 
have  been  dreaming  that  the  jealous,  quar- 
relsome fellows  were  once  more  fighting  for 
what  seemed  to  be  the  honour  of  sleeping  on 
my  head. 

And  yet  they  were  good  dogs  for  their 
work,  and,  I  suppose,  take  them  all  in  all, 
they  have  been  able  to  perform  what  no 
other  dogs  in  the  world  could  have  accom- 
plished. 

Nansen,  Greely,  Rae,  and  many  others 
have  given  unstinted  praise  to  the  courage 
and  endurance,  as  well  as  to  the  sagacity 
and  intelligence  of  these  northern  dogs, 
that  generally  receive  more  kicks  and  curses 
than  caresses  or  kind  words.  Denizens  of 
those  Arctic  regions,  where  a  chronic  state 
17 


1 8  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

of  starvation  is  the  normal  condition  of  all 
the  inhabitants,  where  might  is  right,  with 
both  man  and  beast,  it  is  hardly  to  be  won- 
dered at,  that  it  is  next  to  an  impossibility 
ever  to  teach  the  Eskimo  dog  to  be  honest. 
Steal  he  will,  from  puppyhood  to  old  age. 

This  weakness  for  appropriation,  with  my 
dogs  of  this  breed,  to  put  it  thus  mildly,  was 
the  constant  cause  of  many  rows  and  con- 
flicts with  them.  It  was  the  ultimate  reason 
why,  after  some  winters'  experience  and  ef- 
forts for  their  reformation,  I  at  length 
banished  them  from  my  kennels,  as  far  as 
possible,  and  filled  up  my  trains  with  St. 
Bernards  and  Newfoundlands  or  a  mixture 
of  breeds  in  which  these  predominated. 

Still  these  Eskimo,  or  Huskie  dogs — for 
they  are  sometimes  called  by  one  name  and 
sometimes  by  the  other,  have  justly  won  for 
themselves  a  name  and  a  record  that  will 
cause  them  to  hold  a  high  place  among  ani- 
mals that  have  been  of  real  service  to  the 
human  race.  But  few  of  them  are  ever  kept 
for  mere  pleasure  or  pastime.  It  is  because 
they  are  so  serviceable  to  man,  and  at  times 
absolutely  invaluable  to  him,  that  they  de- 
servedly stand  in  such  esteem  with  tbe  ad- 
mirers of  the  canine  race. 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs          19 

The  pure  Eskimo  dog  is  not  devoid  of 
beauty.  His  compact  body,  well  furred ;  his 
sharp-pointed,  alert-looking  ears;  his  fox- 
like  muzzle;  his  good  legs  and  firm,  hard 
feet ;  his  bushy  tail,  of  which  he  often  seems 
so  proud ;  and  his  bright,  roguish  eyes,  place 
him  in  no  mean  position  among  the  other 
dogs  of  the  world.  His  colour  varies  from 
the  purest  white  to  jet  black.  I  owned  two 
so  absolutely  white  that  not  a  coloured  hair 
could  be  found  on  either  of  them.  They 
were  named  Koona  and  Pa-qua-sha-kun, 
Snow  and  Flour,  by  the  Indians,  on  account 
of  their  spotless  whiteness. 

A  favourite  colour  is  a  kind  of  light 
mouse-grey.  Dogs  of  this  kind  are,  however, 
rare,  but  when  obtained  from  the  natives  are 
considered  of  greater  intelligence  than 
others  and  are  valued  accordingly.  Still 
the  colour,  as  a  general  thing,  is  not  often 
taken  into  consideration,  or  considered  as 
evidence  against  the  purity  of  their  blood. 

The  working  weight  of  my  Eskimo  dogs 
ranged  from  sixty  to  a  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds.  It  seemed  rather  remarkable  that 
some  of  the  lighter  dogs  were  quite  equal  in 
drawing  power  to  others  that  were  very 
much  larger  and  heavier.  In  my  first  win- 


2O  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

ter's  experience  with  dogs  in  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territories,  I  was  the  fortunate  or  un- 
fortunate owner  of  twelve  of  them.  It  was 
evident  from  their  appearance  that,  in  the 
eyes  of  an  expert,  they  would  not  all  have 
been  classed  as  pure  bred  Eskimo.  Still 
there  was  enough  of  that  breed  in  them  to 
dominate  everything  else  and  to  cause  them 
to  act  in  the  most  thoroughbred  fashion. 

They  had,  in  common  with  all  other 
dogs — and  there  were  hundreds  of  them  in 
the  Indian  village  where  we  resided — the 
habit  of  setting  up  the  most  discordant 
bowlings  three  or  four  times  during  the 
night,  especially  in  the  winter  months. 

These  strange,  weird  bowlings  would  be- 
gin at  about  nine  o'clock.  At  that  hour  the 
people  were  generally  in  their  little  houses 
or  wigwams,  and  the  place  was  as  quiet  as 
midnight.  Then  suddenly  would  break  on 
the  stillness  of  that  wintry  night,  the  dis- 
tant wolf -like  bowlings  of  an  Eskimo  dog. 

At  first  it  sounded  very  eerie-like,  and 
not  unmusical.  It  seemed  when  heard  far 
away  like  a  succession  of  O-O-O-O's,  long 
drawn  out,  rising  and  falling  on  the  clear 
frosty  air.  This  alone  would  not  have  been 
annoying,  but  the  trouble  was,  it  was  the 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs         21 

signal  for  every  dog  within  hearing — and 
there  were  multitudes  of  them  in  those  days 
of  abundance  of  fish — to  take  up  the  doleful 
notes  and  add  to  them  every  sound  in  a  dog's 
gamut.  Then  for  a  few  minutes  there  was 
the  most  ear-splitting  din  that  ever  mortals 
heard.  From  the  deep  voices  of  the  old  dogs 
down  to  the  comical  yelps  of  the  little  pup- 
pies, the  air  was  charged  and  surcharged 
with  all  manner  of  noises,  musical  and 
otherwise,  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  dogs  to 
make.  At  first  it  nearly  drove  us  wild.  My 
dozen  dogs  were  just  as  bad  as  the  others. 
When  the  nerve-breaking  din  began,  vainly 
would  I  rush  out  among  them,  armed  with 
the  first  weapons  that  came  to  hand.  It 
made  not  the  slightest  difference  for  howl, 
roar,  squeal,  yelp,  bark,  and  make  other 
sounds  indescribable  they  would,  until  the 
spell  was  over,  even  if  assailed  with  clubs, 
whips,  boot-jacks,  ink  bottles,  whitefish,  or 
whatever  else  came  first  to  hand.  At  about 
midnight  these  horrid  choruses  were  re- 
peated and  then  again  at  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning. 

When  I  first  mentioned  this  strange  habit 
of  those  dogs  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Trading  Company,  and  spoke  of 


22  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  annoyance  they  occasioned,  they  only 
laughed  and  replied,  "  Oh,  you  will  get  used 
to  it  and  then  never  notice  it."  And  so  it 
was,  impossible  though  it  seemed.  In  a  few 
weeks  we  peacefully  slept  while,  like  fiends 
just  outside  our  window,  these  brutes  were 
howling  their  loudest,  as  if  in  rivalry  to  the 
scores  of  other  packs  all  around  them. 

I  fancy  I  might  have  had  more  love  for 
those  Eskimo  animals  if  by  training,  coax- 
ing, petting,  feeding  or  punishing,  I  could 
have  succeeded  in  conquering  their  thievish 
habits.  But  it  was  an  utter  impossibility. 
Steal  they  always  would  and  did.  Any- 
thing eatable,  and  many  things  considered 
uneatable,  they  could  not  pass  by.  I  have 
known  them  to  leave  their  supper  of  white- 
fish  to  go  and  tear  smoked  moose-skin  moc- 
casins down  from  a  clothes-line  and  greedily 
devour  them.  An  old  leather  shirt  was  con- 
sidered a  dainty  morsel,  and  at  times  there 
seemed  to  be  more  than  even  poetic  justice 
in  the  fact  that,  if  they  could  find  the  whip 
of  a  cruel  driver,  they  speedily  devoured  the 
lash,  even  if  it  were  ten  feet  long  and  only 
made  of  braided  buckskin  and  loaded  with 
shot! 

Sometimes  when  on  a  journey,  and  a  halt 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs         23 

was  called  for  a  rest  or  a  meal,  if  the  Indian 
drivers  were  not  on  the  alert  some  of  the 
dogs  while  apparently  resting,  would  be 
eating  the  traces  or  harness  of  the  dogs 
cuddled  close  beside  them. 

My  good  wife  and  I  got  tired  of  living  on 
whiteflsh  twenty-one  times  a  week  for  six 
months  of  the  year,  as  our  principal  article 
of  food,  and  then  the  other  six  months  hav- 
ing the  same  article  of  food  only  varied  by 
the  game  of  the  country,  such  as  wild  cats, 
muskrats,  rabbits,  beaver,  venison,  snow- 
birds, and  other  things,  with  a  limited  sup- 
ply of  flour,  tainted  sometimes  with  coal- 
oil.  So  one  summer,  when  I  was  going  into 
what  was  then  known  as  the  Eed  Kiver  Set- 
tlement, the  good  wife  said  to  me : 

"  Why  not  buy  a  sheep  from  one  of  the 
settlers  and  bring  it  out  in  your  boat?  We 
can  keep  it  here  in  this  stockaded  yard 
where  there  is  plenty  of  grass  until  the  cold 
weather.  Then  it  can  be  killed  and  the  frost 
will  keep  it  as  long  as  desired.  A  little  mut- 
ton occasionally  would  be  an  agreeable 
change  in  our  bill  of  fare,  and  it  would  also 
remind  us  a  little  of  civilization." 

This  was  a  capital  suggestion,  and  so, 
when  the  time  came,  I  put  it  into  execution. 


24  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

I  had  no  difficulty  in  buying  a  fine,  large 
sheep;  and  my  friendly  Indian  boatman 
cheerfully  prepared  a  safe,  comfortable 
place  for  it  in  the  stern  of  the  boat.  I  pur- 
chased a  good  sickle,  and  every  night  when 
we  camped  on  the  shore,  I  found  little 
trouble  in  securing  abundance  of  wild 
luxuriant  grass  for  my  sheep.  Without  any 
accident  we  succeeded  in  reaching  my  dis- 
tant northern  home. 

The  sheep  was  duly  placed  in  the  well- 
stockaded  yard  and  seemed  perfectly  safe 
from  either  prowling  wolves  or  vicious  Es- 
kimo dogs. 

The  stockades  were  made  of  young  spruce 
trees.  The  bark  was  peeled  off  and  they 
were  securely  set  in  a  trench  dug  in  the 
ground.  They  were  from  eight  inches  to  a 
foot  in  diameter,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  in  height.  They  were  placed  as  near 
together  as  possible,  and  all  securely  spiked 
to  cross-bars  on  the  inside. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  made  for 
the  safety  of  my  sheep,  my  native  dogs  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  in  one  night.  Like  wolves 
they  speedily  devoured  poor  Nannie,  much 
to  our  sorrow  and  annoyance.  The  roguish, 
cunning  rascals!  The  next  morning  after 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs         25 

they  had  thus  feasted  on  my  mutton  that  I 
had  brought  with  such  care  four  hundred 
miles,  they  prudently  kept  at  a  distance 
from  me.  They  would  sit  up  on  their 
haunches  and  let  me  come  within  about  a 
hundred  feet  of  them  but,  "  No  nearer, 
thank  you,"  they  seemed  to  say.  Clever 
fellows,  they  knew  they  deserved  a  good 
thrashing,  but  they  seemed  to  think  it  best 
to  put  off  the  evil  day  until  the  master  had 
in  a  measure  got  over  his  anger  and  would 
be  more  lenient  in  his  punishment. 

Wise  dogs  were  they.  For  as  I  could  not 
get  my  hands  upon  them  to  punish  them  the 
day  the  crime  was  discovered,  I  did  not  pun- 
ish them  when  I  did  get  hold  of  them.  I 
argued,  I  think  justly,  that  they  would  not 
have  had  the  slightest  idea  of  the  reason 
why  they  were  being  chastised.  So  by  pru- 
dently keeping  beyond  my  reach  for  twenty- 
four  hours,  they  escaped  altogether. 

Disappointed,  but  not  discouraged,  in  this 
attempt  to  have  some  mutton  for  an  occa- 
sional meal  in  that  great  Northland,  I  next 
tried  to  see  what  I  could  do  with  some  pigs. 
So  the  next  summer,  when  I  made  my  an- 
nual trip  to  the  Red  River  Settlement,  I 
bought  from  a  flourishing  farmer  a  couple 


26  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

of  little  pigs  that  were  perhaps  four  or  five 
months  old.  At  a  mill  in  the  Settlement  I 
purchased  a  quantity  of  ground  pease  and 
meal  and  away  we  started  on  our  homeward 
journey. 

Without  any  mishap  we  safely  reached 
our  destination.  Improvements  had  been 
constantly  going  on  and  I  had  already  built 
a  new  log  stable.  In  it,  near  to  the  stalls  of 
my  cows — for  I  now  had  two  of  these  valu- 
able animals,  I  prepared  a  strong  pen  for 
my  little  porkers.  The  lively  little  fellows 
were  there  safely  placed,  and  as  the  door  of 
the  stable  was  made  of  two-inch  spruce 
plank,  I  felt  that  we  were  fairly  sure  of 
having  some  nice  fresh  pork  for  the  coming 
winter. 

Vain  prognostications !  What  was  a  sin- 
gle door  of  spruce  wood  against  the  sharp 
teeth  of  a  dozen  Eskimo  dogs ! 

I  had  noticed  how  alert  and  nervous  the 
dogs  ever  were  when  it  came  near  feeding 
time  for  the  little  pigs,  as  they,  in  the  usual 
manner  of  their  kind,  expressed  it  by  their 
lively  squealing  for  their  supper  of  sour 
milk  and  meal. 

As  the  days  went  by,  and  no  very  serious 
efforts  had  been  made  by  the  dogs  to  get  into 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs         27 

the  stable,  I  began  to  feel  that  I  had  the 
upper  hand  this  time  and  they  were  not  to 
triumph  over  me,  as  they  had  in  the  matter 
of  the  sheep. 

I  confess  I  was  two  or  three  times  dis- 
turbed somewhat,  on  going  to  feed  the  pigs, 
to  find  that  in  several  places  the  dogs  had 
with  their  sharp  teeth,  torn  out  the  heavy 
pieces  of  wood  that  had  been  firmly  fastened 
in  between  the  great  logs.  However,  as  that 
only  left  them  at  the  best,  a  space  of  two  or 
three  inches  wide,  they  were  still  powerless 
to  do  any  harm,  and  so  I  only  laughed  at 
their  useless  toil.  I  was  also  interested  in 
noticing  that  every  morning  there  were  so 
many  well-defined  dog  tracks  around  the 
stable.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  not 
idle  and  so  took  the  satisfaction  when  it  was 
dark,  to  go  and,  as  we  used  to  say,  at  least 
have  a  good  smell  of  the  pigs. 

Alas  for  our  boastings!  One  morning 
when  I  was  going  out  to  see  my  piggies, 
which  for  weeks  had  been  growing  so  fa- 
mously, I  was  met  by  an  Indian,  who,  in 
the  quiet,  cool  manner  of  his  people,  said, 
"  I  think  you  need  not  trouble  yourself  or 
have  Martin  bother  to  waste  any  more  food 
on  the  pigs." 


28  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Away  I  hurried.  There  before  me  was 
Martin,  my  faithful  man  of  all  work,  at  the 
stable.  In  the  pen  but  little  was  left  of  the 
pigs.  In  a  corner  of  the  stable,  with  heads 
bloody  and  tempers  roused,  were  some  of 
my  Eskimo  dogs.  Martin  had  caught  them 
at  this  feast  and  had  wisely  blocked  their 
way  until  I  should  arrive. 

Keeping  a  watch  on  the  dogs  that  were 
now  wild  to  escape,  we  made  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  manner  in  which  they  had  won 
their  victory  over  us  this  second  time.  Mar- 
tin, when  attending  to  his  morning  work, 
had  found  the  door  securely  fastened  as 
usual,  but  right  through  those  spruce  planks 
those  dogs  had  cut  their  way  with  their 
teeth.  They  must  have  worked  in  turns  and 
at  a  good  deal  of  discomfort  to  themselves, 
as  many  of  the  slivers  torn  off  were  quite 
tinged  with  blood.  Yet  with  all  the  mad 
frenzy  of  their  natures,  when  aroused,  after 
undoubtedly  laying  their  plans  to  succeed 
in  this  way,  they  had  thus  triumphed.  The 
cunning  fellows  selected  a  dark,  wild, 
stormy  night.  We  afterward  remembered 
how  the  winds  had  howled  and  raged  and 
had  so  aided  them.  Thus  the  noise  they 
must  necessarily  have  made  in  their  cutting 


My  Eskimo  or  Huskie  Dogs         29 

and  tearing  at  that  wood,  and  their  attack 
upon  the  pigs,  had  not  been  heard  even  by 
any  of  the  Indians,  although  some  of  their 
dwelling  places  were  not  far  distant.  Dis- 
gusted and  annoyed,  I  turned  away. 

"  Shall  we  punish  the  dogs? "  asked 
Martin. 

"  Do  as  you  like,"  I  replied,  "  but  what 
good  will  it  do  them?  Such  is  their  nature 
and  I  am  going  to  get  rid  of  them  as  soon 
as  possible.  There  are  other  kinds  of  dogs 
with  none  of  their  miserable  ways,  and  I 
am  going  to  have  them  if  money  or  friends 
can  secure  them." 

At  once  I  returned  to  the  house.  Whether 
Martin  gave  them  a  thrashing  or  not,  I 
never  inquired.  My  efforts  for  the  uplift- 
ing and  the  reformation  of  Eskimo  dogs,  as 
a  class,  then  and  there  ceased.  I  had  in- 
dividual dogs  afterward  that  I  could  trust 
when  in  harness,  or  tied  securely  to  a  tree 
or  post,  but  that  was  the  extent  of  my  use 
for  them. 


II 

WITH  WILD  ESKIMO  DOGS  UNDER  THE  AURORAS 


at  once,  and  come  as  quickly 
.as  you  can,  for  I  have  taken  an  over- 
dose of  quinine  and  am  afraid  I  will 
die  of  hydrophobia !  " 

Such  was  the  unique  and  startling  com- 
munication that  was  brought  to  me  one  win- 
try day  by  an  Indian  hunter  from  an  Indian 
settlement  two  hundred  miles  away. 

The  writer  of  it  was  an  Indian  native 
helper,  who  had  been  placed  in  temporary 
oversight  of  a  mission  station  until  an  or- 
dained missionary  could  be  secured  to  take 
full  charge  of  the  place.  This  native  worker 
was  not  destitute  of  ability  or  zeal,  but  he 
had  had  the  misfortune  to  get  hold  of  a  medi- 
cal volume  that  gave  a  rather  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  many  of  the  ills  to  which  the  human 
frame  is  subject.  The  Indian,  who  had 
quite  a  good  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, read  this  book  with  a  feeling  of  hor- 
ror. He  was  fascinated  by  it  It  nearly 
30 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras    3 1 

frightened  him  out  of  his  wits.  He  fancied 
he  was  the  possessor  of  nearly  every  disease 
therein  described. 

With  all  the  medicines  with  which  I  had 
furnished  him  to  heal  the  sicknesses  of  his 
people,  he  liberally  dosed  himself,  until 
from  their  effects  upon  him  he  really  became 
sick.  This,  of  course,  added  to  his  horror 
and  alarm.  He  neglected  his  work  and 
spent  his  time  in  feeling  his  pulse,  looking 
at  his  tongue  in  the  glass,  and  industriously 
dosing  himself  with  every  variety  of  drugs 
in  his  possession.  The  climax  was  reached 
when  he  took  an  overdose  of  quinine.  The 
word  "  hydrophobia,"  to  him  incomprehen- 
sible, seemed  at  the  time  a  fitting  word  to 
represent  his  fears,  as  well  as  his  feelings., 
and  hence  the  remarkable  epistle  from  him 
to  me,  which  begins  this  chapter. 

As  speedily  as  possible  I  prepared  three 
trains  of  dogs.  Our  sleds  were  heavily 
loaded,  principally  with  food  supplies  for 
this  Indian  and  his  household. 

I  secured  a  capital  Indian  guide,  whose 
duty  was  to  run  on  his  snowshoes  ahead  of 
our  dogs,  to  indicate  the  direction.  There 
was  but  little  vestige  of  a  road,  as  frequent 
blizzard  storms  swept  through  those  north- 


32  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

era  wastes  and  forests  and  obliterated  any 
trail  that  might  have  been  made  by  passing 
hunters. 

As  is  customary  and  essential  in  travel- 
ling with  dogs  in  that  country,  we  had  with 
us  on  our  sleds  our  kettles,  provisions,  bed- 
ding, guns  and  everything  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  living  out  in  the  open  air,  independ- 
ent of  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  did  not 
see  a  house  on  the  whole  route  and  only  met 
with  a  few  hunters  through  whose  hunting 
grounds  we  passed.  Three  times  when  night 
overtook  us  we  made  our  camp  in  the  woods 
and  there  slept  with  no  roof  over  us. 

Abundance  of  fur  robes  and  warm  blank- 
ets made  our  wintry  beds  under  the  stars. 
We  spent  the  nights  as  best  we  could. 
Sometimes  as  there  we  slept,  the  clouds 
arose  and  from  them  a  heavy  fall  of  snow 
silently  covered  us  like  a  great  warm 
blanket,  and  added  much  to  our  comfort. 

After  various  adventures  and  mishaps, 
incident  to  such  lands  and  such  methods  of 
travel,  we  reached  the  southern  end  of  a 
lake  about  thirty  miles  long.  On  the  north- 
ern end  of  this  lake  was  situated  the  mis- 
sion where  lived  my  hypochondriacal  In- 
dian, towards  whose  house  we  were  travel- 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   33 

ling.  As  it  was  about  sundown  when  we 
came  in  sight  of  the  lake,  and  there  was 
abundance  of  good  wood  for  a  winter  camp, 
we  there  decided  to  spend  the  night  and  go 
on  in  the  morning.  However,  ere  we  had 
unharnessed  our  dogs,  we  heard  the  shouts 
of  Indians  and  the  merry  jingling  of  dog- 
bells. 

It  did  not  take  long  for  my  men  to  notify 
these  strangers  of  our  presence,  and  very 
speedily  we  were  joined  by  them.  To  our 
surprise  we  found  that  the  party  consisted 
of  my  afflicted  friend  and  a  couple  of  Indian 
dog  drivers.  They  each  had  a  train  of  very 
large  and  fierce-looking  Eskimo  dogs.  On 
my  expressing  my  pleasure  and  satisfaction 
at  seeing  him  so  much  better  than  I  had 
expected,  in  view  of  his  letter,  he  replied 
that  the  medicine  book  had  told  him  that 
his  disease  would  run  its  course  in  so  many 
days,  and  so  he  thought  that  while  it  was 
doing  so  he  would  just  run  up  and  see  me 
about  it, 

My  Indian  companions,  whom  I  had 
told  of  the  probably  imaginary  character 
of  his  ills,  wanted  as  did  I,  to  laugh  at  him, 
but  we  managed  to  keep  our  faces  straight 
while  he  told  us  of  the  various  diseases  that 


34  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

had  assailed  him  since  we  had  seen  him  six 
months  before. 

I  comforted  him  with  the  assurance  that 
I  had  not  only  food  and  other  supplies  in 
my  dog-sleds  for  him,  but  medicine  that 
would  speedily  drive  out  of  him  all  of  his 
diseases.  This  latter  piece  of  information 
so  delighted  him  that  he  at  once  proposed 
that  I  should  give  the  medicine  to  him  then 
and  there. 

However,  this  was  not  my  plan  for  curing 
such  a  case  of  imaginary  sickness,  and  so  I 
decided  that  it  would  be  much  more  effective 
and  thorough,  if  we  waited  until  we  re- 
turned to  his  home.  This  did  not  satisfy 
him  and  then  I  had  to  tell  him  that  I  must 
insist  on  delay.  As  a  compromise,  however, 
it  was  decided  that  after  a  good  supper  at 
the  camp  fire,  now  brightly  burning,  we 
would  continue  the  journey  instead  of 
camping  there  for  the  night. 

The  trail  most  of  the  way  had  been  very 
difficult.  Our  loads  were  heavy  and  our 
dogs  were  so  tired  that  they  were  in  no 
humour  for  rapid  travelling.  It  seemed  al- 
most cruel  to  push  on,  but  this  man,  with 
all  his  imaginary  ills,  could  not  think  of 
delay. 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   35 

To  judge  by  his  appearance  and  energetic 
actions  he  was  the  healthiest  man  in  the 
crowd.  My  Indians  would  have  objected  to 
continuing  the  journey  if  the  stalwart  In- 
dian had  not  so  eloquently  detailed  his  mul- 
titudinous troubles.  So  it  was  resolved 
that  we  should  go  on,  and  as  the  lake  was 
covered  with  fairly  smooth  ice,  the  travel- 
ling would  now  be  much  easier  for  the  dogs. 

The  frozen  lakes  and  rivers  always  give 
us  our  best  roads  for  dog  travelling.  On 
the  sick  man's  discovering  that  I  had  my 
medicines  with  me  in  my  own  cariole,  he 
made  a  proposition  to  exchange  dog  trains 
with  me  for  that  home  run.  This  was  the 
cause  of  an  exciting  adventure  and  much 
trouble. 

His  dogs  were  large,  powerful  Eskimos, 
full  of  vitality  and  mischief.  He  had 
abundance  of  fish  and  so  his  dogs  were  in 
as  fine  condition  as  such  dogs  could  be. 
For  days  they  had  been  kept  tied  up  in 
preparation  for  this  long  journey  of  two 
hundred  miles,  on  which  he  had  started. 
The  thirty  miles  run  on  the  ice  from  his 
home  to  this  place,  where  we  had  met,  had 
really  only  limbered  up  such  animals  for 
their  work. 


36  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Our  sleds  were  all  repacked,  with  some 
of  the  heaviest  bundles  placed  on  those  of 
these  Indians  who  had  met  us.  My  tired 
dogs  were  unfastened  from  my  cariole,  and 
in  their  place,  was  attached  the  train  of 
four  fierce  Eskimos. 

My  own  faithful,  cautious  guide,  as  he 
carefully  tucked  the  warm  fur  robes  around 
me  in  the  cariole,  handed  me  a  heavy  dog 
whip  and  said  that  in  all  probability  I 
would  have  to  use  it,  if  those  dogs  found 
out  that  they  were  dragging  a  white  man. 
This  whip  had  a  heavy  oak  handle,  less 
than  two  feet  long,  while  the  heavy, 
well-shotted  lash  was  over  fifteen  feet  in 
length. 

The  sick  man,  the  owner  of  these  dogs, 
as  he  straightened  them  out  in  the  trail  on 
the  ice  with  their  faces  towards  home,  said 
to  me: 

"  Now  do  not  speak  a  word  and  there  will 
be  no  trouble.  They  will  run  you  to  my 
home  in  less  than  three  hours.  They  will 
keep  on  the  trail  we  have  made  in  coming 
on  the  ice  even  if  there  has  been  but  little 
snow  in  which  to  mark  it.  They  do  not  like 
white  people,  but  if  you  do  not  speak  to 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   37 

them,  in  their  anxiety  to  get  home,  they  will 
never  suspect." 

I  looked  the  fierce  brutes  over  and  then 
so  placed  my  heavy  whip  that  I  could  in- 
stantly seize  it,  if  necessary,  and  made  up 
my  mind  that  I  was  in  for  a  wild,  exciting 
ride. 

It  was  a  magnificent  night.  The  sun  had 
gone  down  in  unclouded  splendour,  and 
now  the  stars  were  shining  with  a  beauty 
and  clearness  that  only  can  be  witnessed 
where  there  is  absolutely  no  fog,  or  mist,  or 
damp.  The  intense  cold  had  cleared  away 
all  such  obstructions.  Before  me  was  the 
great  frozen  lake  stretching  away  and  far 
beyond  the  distant  horizon.  To  my  inex- 
perienced eye,  there  was  on  that  icy  expanse 
not  the  vestige  of  a  road.  Yet  during  the 
long  hours  of  this  intensely  cold  night, 
without  a  single  human  companion,  I  was 
going  to  trust  myself  to  the  care  of  four 
Eskimo  animals,  to  run  me  thirty  miles  to 
a  lonely  log  house  on  the  distant  shore. 
During  those  long  hours,  I  was  neither  to 
cough,  nor  speak  a  single  word,  for  fear  of 
trouble,  or  perhaps  a  fierce  battle  with 
these  savage  brutes  and,  if  it  should  take 


38  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

place,  who  could  tell  which  side  would  win 
in  the  conflict?  No  wonder  my  spirits  rose 
and  I  felt  that  this  was  indeed  a  trip  of  no 
ordinary  interest. 

With  the  consolatory  words  of  my  guide 
that,  after  resting  the  weary  dogs  for  an 
hour  or  two,  they  would  follow  in  my  trail, 
and  with  the  hope  that  they  would  find  me 
safe  at  the  end,  my  adventurous  journey 
was  suddenly  begun  by  the  owner  of  the 
dogs  applying  his  long  whiplash  to  them, 
which  of  course  started  them  off  on  a 
furious  gallop. 

It  was  indeed  a  glorious  ride.  The  well- 
trained  dogs  were  splendidly  matched,  and 
so  in  perfect  unison  they  dashed  along. 
My  cariole  was  about  ten  feet  long  and 
eighteen  inches  wide.  Its  bottom  was  made 
of  inch  oak  boards  and  its  sides  were  of 
parchment  I  sat  well  back  in  the  rear  end 
and  was  so  well  muffled  in  furs  that  only 
my  eyes  were  visible.  So  narrow  was  my 
cariole  that  a  certain  amount  of  balancing 
was  necessary  when  dashing  over  occa- 
sional snow-drifts,  which  at  times  are  found 
even  out  on  the  great  frozen  lakes.  But  I 
had  become  used  to  this  work,  and  so  had 
no  fear  of  an  upset  For  about  fifteen  miles 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   39 

we  thus  sped  on.  The  dogs  would  some- 
times drop  into  a  swift  trot  and  then  again 
resume  their  rapid  gallop.  They  were  on 
the  home  stretch,  and  so  required  no  fur- 
ther incentive  to  urge  them  along. 

It  was  a  unique  ride  and  exhilarating  in 
the  extreme.  To  add  to  the  splendour  of 
the  starry  heavens  the  wondrous  aurora 
came  dancing  and  flashing  and  blazing  up 
before  me  in  the  northern  sky.  It  formed 
into  great  armies  which  fought  out  the 
ghostly  battles  with  no  rude  sounds  to  dis- 
turb the  northern  solitudes.  Then  when 
apparently  satisfied  with  this  performance 
they  rolled  across  the  heavens  in  great  rib- 
bons of  light,  from  which  they  flung  out 
long  flags  of  purest  white,  which  seemed  as 
flags  of  truce  from  heaven  to  earth.  Then 
suddenly,  with  all  the  rapidity  of  electrical 
phenomena,  they  changed  to  pink  and  yel- 
low and  then  to  blood-red  crimson  until  the 
whole  heavens  seemed  aglow  with  vivid 
colours  so  intense  that  the  snowy  particles 
on  the  ice  caught  the  reflection,  and  when 
we  dashed  through  them  it  seemed  as 
though  they  were  pools  of  the  blood  of  thou- 
sands slain.  Then  again  there  was  another 
transformation;  and  now  as  from  the  re- 


40  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

gions  of  departed  spirits,  noiselessly  flitted 
into  dim  vision  the  ghostly  forms  of  multi- 
tudes clad  in  purest  white  or  in  robes  of 
pink  or  yellow.  In  rhythmic  measure,  they 
danced  along,  just  above  the  horizon  and 
then  with  a  sudden  bound,  they  flew  up 
into  the  heavens  above  us,  only  pausing  in 
the  midway  course  for  a  second,  to  flash 
out  in  some  more  glorious  colour  or  to  be 
changed  into  forms  of  more  ravishing 
beauty.  When  the  zenith  was  reached  the 
grandest  transformation  of  all  took  place. 
For  here  came  whole  multitudes  from  those 
who  seemingly  had  been  engaged  in  the  car- 
nival of  blood,  to  the  white-robed  innocent 
and  unstained  spirits  of  light.  In  myriads 
they  came,  and  as  though  every  one  knew 
its  place  they  rapidly  formed  in  the  very 
zenith  above  us  the  crowning  glory  of  the 
auroral  displays,  the  perfect  corona,  the 
grandest  vision  the  eye  of  man  ever  gazed 
upon.  How  it  scintillated  and  blazed  above 
us,  a  crown  of  splendour,  a  fit  diadem  for 
Him,  "  on  whose  head  are  many  crowns ! " 
Then,  as  the  whole  corona  blazed  out  in 
equal  brightness,  the  shadow  of  my  dogs 
was  thrown  completely  under  them.  These 
ghostly  shadows  seemed  to  startle  and 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   41 

stimulate  their  pace,  as,  to  the  sole  music 
of  their  little  bells,  they  rapidly  sped  along. 
They  seemed  also  to  startle  something  else. 
for  out  from  a  rocky  island  on  our  left, 
there  dashed  a  splendid  black  fox.  He  was 
indeed  a  beauty,  and  so  vivid  was  the  Au- 
rora that  I  had  a  very  fine  view  of  him,  as 
he  rapidly  hurried  across  our  trail  and 
struck  out  for  a  well-wooded,  rocky  island, 
perhaps  half  a  mile  on  our  right. 

The  sight  of  him  very  much  excited  my 
dogs.  Home,  and  their  comrades  and  ken- 
nels, were  for  the  time  forgotten,  and  away 
from  the  home  trail  they  dashed  in  wild, 
excitement  after  that  fox.  How  far  they 
would  run  in  the  pursuit,  I  could  not  tell, 
but  every  moment  was  taking  us  farther 
from  the  trail,  and  if  it  were  once  lost, 
could  we  find  it  again? 

Thus  I  had  to  do  a  lot  of  thinking  in  a 
very  short  time  and  quickly  decide  what 
to  do.  We  had  come  about  half  of  the  dis- 
tance and  there  being  at  least  fifteen  miles 
yet  to  run,  it  was  not  safe  to  be  madly  rac- 
ing after  a  fox  out  on  this  great  lake.  So 
I  resolved  to  break  the  silence,  and  to  turn 
the  clogs  into  the  home  stretch,  even  if  I  had 
to  fight  them.  The  preparations  necessary 


42  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

were  not  many.  Quickly  bracing  myself  on 
my  knees  with  my  robes  well  around  me,  I 
gripped  the  heavy  whip  so  that  I  could,  if 
necessary,  use  the  handle  of  it  as  a  club. 
Then  I  sternly  shouted  to  the  dogs  in  In- 
dian language  to  stop  and  then  turn  to  the 
left.  The  instant  they  heard  my  voice,  they 
did  stop,  and  that*  so  suddenly,  that  my 
rapidly  moving  cariole  went  sliding  on  and 
passed  the  rear  dog  of  the  train,  as  far  as 
his  traces  would  allow.  Then  they  came 
for  me  furiously.  The  leader  of  the  train 
was  the  fiercest  of  the  four,  and  he  led  in 
i\he  attack. 

It  was  certainly  well  for  me  that  he  did 
so,  for  swinging  the  others  around,  brought 
them  all  into  such  a  position  that  only  one 
at  a  time  could  reach  me.  I  am  left-handed, 
and  so,  as  he  sprang  at  me,  I  guarded  my 
face  with  my  right  hand  well  wrapped  in 
furs,  while  I  belaboured  him  over  the  head 
with  the  oak  whiphandle.  Three  or  four 
well  administered  blows  were  all  he  needed, 
and  with  a  howl  he  dropped  on  the  ice  while 
the  next  one  in  the  train  tried  his  best  to 
get  hold  of  me.  One  fortunate  clip  on  the 
side  of  his  head  sent  him  tumbling  over  on 
bis  leader,  and  then  I  had  to  face  the  third 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   43 

one  of  the  train.  He  proved  the  ugliest  cus- 
tomer of  all,  and  I  never  before  imagined  a 
dog's  head  could  take  such  a  pommelling 
ere  he  would  give  in.  Failing  to  get  hold 
of  me,  he  tore  the  robes  and  parchment  side 
of  the  cariole.  It  was  well  for  me  that  the 
traces  of  the  fourth  dog,  fastened  to  the 
front  of  the  cariole,  so  held  him  back,  that 
he  was  unable  to  do  more  than  savagely 
growl  at  me,  while  he  at  times  fastened  his 
teeth  into  everything  within  reach.  His 
efforts  however  kept  the  cariole  twisting  in 
a  most  erratic  fashion,  and  so  I  had  to  keep 
up  the  fight  and  at  the  same  time  look  well 
to  my  balance  so  as  not  to  be  upset. 

With  the  third  dog  conquered,  I  uncoiled 
the  long  lash  of  the  whip  and  shouting 
"  Marche !  "  I  vigourously  and  promiscu- 
ously used  it  on  them.  They  did  not  wait 
for  many  applications  but  speedily  sprang 
to  their  feet.  The  leader  wheeled  around 
to  the  left  and  away  they  flew.  At  first 
they  seemed  tangled  up  in  the  traces,  but 
trained  dogs  are  wonderfully  clever  in 
straightening  out  from  these  mixups  and 
so  it  was  then.  On  they  sped  to  the  left 
until  their  sharp  scent  at  once  indicated 
when  the  home  trail  was  reached,  and  the 


44          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

homeward  journey  was  resumed.  I  had  no 
hesitancy  in  speaking  now.  As  my  voice  in 
unison  with  the  pistol-like  reports  of  the 
whip  rang  out,  they  showed  no  more  desire 
for  battle,  but  a  desperate  resolve  to  reach 
home  as  speedily  as  possible. 

But  ere  the  journey  ended,  they  played 
me  a  shabby  trick,  and  in  a  measure  got 
their  revenge  on  me.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  on  which  the  house  of  this  native  agent 
was  built,  he  had  dug  a  trench  and  there 
fixed  a  heavy  stockade  to  break  the  force  of 
the  wild  storms  that,  sweeping  over  the 
lake,  drifted  the  snow  around  his  home. 
This  stockade  was  fifteen  or  eighteen  feet 
high.  The  storms  had  so  piled  up  the  snow 
on  the  lake  side  that  it  was  now  level  with 
the  top ;  while  over  the  other  side  there  was 
a  drift  of  only  about  five  or  six  feet  in 
depth. 

There  was  a  regular  dog  trail  around  by 
the  gate  to  the  house,  but,  of  course,  I  knew 
nothing  of  this.  The  dogs  knew,  however, 
and  were  always  accustomed  to  use  it.  But 
this  night,  as  though  furious  and  revenge- 
ful at  the  white  man  who  had  conquered 
them,  when  we  arrived  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  house,  instead  of  taking  the  usual 


With  Wild  Dogs  Under  the  Auroras   45 

route  they  dashed  up  this  long  packed 
snowdrift  on  the  lake  side  carrying  me  over 
the  high  stockade  into  the  drifts  beyond. 
It  was  a  mad  leap  of  over  ten  feet.  Fortu- 
nately the  snow  into  which  we  plunged  was 
deep  enough  to  break  the  fall,  but,  as  it  was, 
I  felt  the  effects  of  it  for  weeks.  With  a 
vengeance  the  dogs  struggled  out  of  the 
snowdrift.  Then  up  the  hill  they  hurried 
me  to  the  house.  Sharp  ears  had  heard  our 
coming  and  familiar  hands  grasped  the 
dogs  and  led  them  away,  while  I  was,  by 
a  half-frightened  woman,  taken  into  the 
mission  home  among  her  alarmed  little 
ones,  who  required  any  amount  of  explana- 
tion why  a  paleface  had  come  in  that  way 
with  their  father's  dogs. 

I  was  thankful  to  be  under  a  roof  once 
more,  and  after  a  time  was  able,  especially 
by  the  presents  which  I  had  brought,  to 
make  friends  of  all  the  household. 

The  rest  of  the  party  arrived  during  the 
night.  The  medicines  administered  to  the 
sick  man  proved  efficacious  and  he,  at  this 
date,  is  still  alive  and  vigourous. 


Ill 

BOBBER  DOGS  AND  AN  INDIAN  COUNCIL 

THE  contrast  between  the  old  experi- 
enced guides,  with  whom  I  made 
most  of  my  journeys,  and  the  inex- 
perienced Indians,  whom  I  was  sometimes 
obliged  to  take  with  me,  was  very  great  in- 
deed. The  best  guides  were  not  always 
available.  They  were  great  hunters  and 
were  often  away  in  their  distant  hunting 
grounds.  They  were  also  in  demand  by  the 
great  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  re- 
quired the  very  best  guides  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  widely  extended  fur  trade.  The 
result  was,  that  I  was  sometimes  obliged  to 
start  with  men  who  knew  but  very  little 
more  of  the  duties  required  of  them  than  I 
did  myself. 

Such  trips  would  be  specially  unfortu- 
nate, if,  as  it  sometimes  happened,  I  was 
compelled  to  make  use  of  these  men  when 
various  diseases  had  made  sad  havoc  among 
my  dogs  and  the  survivors  had  been  so 
46 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    47 

hardly  worked  and  had  suffered  so  much, 
that  it  would  have  been  cruelty  so  soon  to 
put  them  on  the  trail  again.  The  result  was, 
that  while  giving  my  dogs  a  rest  at  times, 
I  had  to  hire  not  only  incompetent  guides, 
but  also  trains  of  native  dogs  that  often 
sorely  tried  me. 

A  queer  lot  of  Indians  they  were.  But  I 
became  interested  in  them  as  soon  as  they 
stated  the  reason  of  their  coming.  They 
were  a  deputation  from  the  northwestern 
side  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  they  had  been 
sent  to  ask  me  to  go  over  and  meet  them  in 
council,  and  advise  them,  as  I  had  done 
other  Indians  who  had  made  treaties  with 
the  Government. 

The  great  in-rush  of  white  settlers  and 
adventurers  into  Manitoba  and  the  North- 
west Territories,  in  the  early  seventies, 
greatly  troubled  the  Indians.  They  feared 
that  in  spite  of  all  the  fair  promises  made 
to  them,  they  were  in  danger  of  losing  their 
lands,  the  hunting-grounds  of  their  fore- 
fathers, without  a  fair  compensation.  Put- 
ting ourselves  in  their  places,  we  can  see 
that  they  had  much  to  perplex  and  trouble 
them.  They  used  to  come  to  me  in  their 
bewilderment  and  ask  me  to  explain  many, 


48  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

of  the  singular,  and  to  them  most  incom- 
prehensible, doings  of  these  strange  "  pale- 
faces." Sometimes  to  draw  them  out  and 
hear  their  quaint  way  of  putting  things,  I 
would  ask  for  definite  information  as  to  the 
actions  of  the  "  palefaces,"  who  had  so 
sadly  unsettled  them. 

They  were  not  slow  to  tell  me  what  they 
had  seen,  and  as  I  listened  I  wondered  if 
the  busy  enterprising  white  man,  as  he  was 
rushing  hither  and  thither  through  that 
then  wild  country  where  the  rights  of  the 
Indians  were  still  unquestioned,  ever  knew 
how  often  sharp  eyes  were  upon  him,  be- 
hind which  was  a  suspicious  red  Indian,  in 
whose  hands  was  a  trusty  gun. 

That  these  red  men  remained  so  quiet, 
both  on  the  prairies  and  in  the  forests,  con- 
sidering the  numbers  of  greedy  adventurers 
who  invaded  their  abodes,  ere  treaties  were 
made  with  them  and  their  rights  assured, 
redounds  very  much  to  their  credit. 

"  We  see  him,"  said  one,  "  that  paleface 
with  his  little  pan,  and  he  go  up  and  down 
our  rivers  and  lakes,  and  he  stop  on  the 
shores  and  he  put  sand  in  that  pan,  and  he 
whirl  it  round  and  round  so  fast  that  some 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    49 

of  the  sand  keep  flying  out  with  the  water. 
Then  when  only  little  left  in  the  bottom  of 
that  pan,  that  man  puts  it  on  white  paper 
and  he  looks  at  it  for  some  time  through 
little  round  things  he  takes  out  of  his 
pocket.  Then  he  throws  it  all  away  and 
then  he  tries  again,  and  then  he  goes  some- 
where else  and  tries  same  as  this,  and  then 
when  night  is  coming  on  and  he  throws  his 
last  sand  away,  he  says  bad  words  and  goes 
back  to  his  camp. 

"  Then  some  other  day  another  white 
man  comes  into  our  country,  and  there  be 
three,  four  of  them.  And  they  pitch  their 
tent  by  the  great  rocks  where  there  are 
some  lines  of  white  rock  mixed  with  the 
rest.  There  some  days  these  men  with  their 
hammers  and  chisels,  hammer  and  break 
away  pieces  of  this  white  rock  [quartz]. 
Then  they  break  it  up  fine  and  they  do 
many  things  with  it,  all  very  strange  to  us. 
Then  they  try  in  some  more  places  all 
around  their  camp  and  some  even  go  miles 
away,  looking  for  this  white  rock,  and  they 
bring  to  the  camp  some  loads  of  it  on  their 
backs.  They  then  all  work  at  it  and  when 
done  they  throw  it  all  away,  and  then  they 


50          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

say  some  more  bad  words,  and  then  they 
take  down  their  tent  and  go  somewhere 
else." 

I  listened  to  these  and  other  recitals  of 
their  perplexities,  and  assured  them  that 
the  Government  of  the  Queen,  through  the 
Governor-General,  would  see  that  her  In- 
dian subjects  were  honourably  dealt  with, 
and  that  these  pushing  white  men  would 
not  be  allowed  to  rob  them  of  their  mines, 
fisheries,  forests  or  waterfalls. 

My  words  were  received  with  great  satis- 
faction, especially  when  they  found  out  that 
I  had  already  assisted  another  tribe  in  help- 
ing them  to  make  an  advantageous  treaty 
with  the  Government. 

They  were  so  very  importunate  that  I 
should  come  and  tell  at  their  council-fire, 
all  these  assuring  things  that  I  had  to  prom- 
ise to  make  them  a  speedy  visit.  They  were 
highly  elated,  that  is  for  Indians,  with  the 
success  of  their  visit,  and  having  received 
some  gifts,  they  speedily  returned  to  their 
distant  home. 

My  field  of  work  was  already  extended 
over  an  area  equal  to  all  England,  and  this 
new  place,  from  which  this  delegation  had 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    51 

come,  was  quite  beyond  what  I  had  consid- 
ered my  field.  But  the  promise  had  been 
given  and  it  must  be  fulfilled. 

I  had  some  out-stations  on  the  western 
side  of  Lake  Winnipeg  at  that  date,  and  so 
I  resolved  to  make  a  tour,  which  would  in- 
clude all  my  work,  and  enable  me,  at  the 
same  time,  to  meet  these  disturbed  Indians 
and  quiet  their  fears  in  reference  to  their 
lands. 

The  distemper  had  killed  off  a  number  of 
my  dogs,  and  others  had  suffered  severely 
in  a  very  hard  journey  just  ended;  so  in 
hiring  my  Indian  comrades,  I  not  only  en- 
gaged three  who  knew  that  western  country, 
but  I  also  hired  three  of  their  dog-trains  as 
well.  This  gave  my  own  dogs  a  much- 
needed  rest,  but  I  missed  them  much  before 
the  trip  ended. 

We  carried  with  us  abundant  supplies, 
for  we  were  going  into  new  regions  and  were 
none  too  sure  as  to  the  condition  or  abun- 
dance of  the  food  at  those  places.  Reindeer 
had  been  killed  in  goodly  numbers  that  win- 
ter, by  my  Indians,  so  I  had  a  large  bag  of 
venison  cooked  for  this  long  trip.  A  two- 
bushel  bag  of  fat,  nutritious  buns  was  also 


52  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

prepared.  These,  with  the  usual  supplies 
of  the  more  substantial  food,  made  us  un- 
usually pleased  with  our  outfit. 

We  left  our  home  very  early  in  the  morn- 
ing and  with  our  fresh  dogs  made  a  capital 
day's  run,  considering  our  heavy  loads.  We 
made  our  camp  in  the  forest  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  lake,  in  the  snow  where  a  dense 
balsam  grove  afforded  us  protection  from 
the  biting  cold  wind. 

Long  ere  the  stars  had  faded  before  the 
light  of  the  coming  day  we  were  on  our 
way.  We  were  now  crossing  the  great  lake 
and  were  specially  anxious  to  get  to  the 
other  side  ere  night  should  overtake  us.  So 
very  wide  is  this  great  lake,  at  the  place 
where  we  were  crossing,  that  it  requires 
many  hours  of  rapid  dog  travelling  to  make 
the  journey  from  shore  to  shore.  About 
half-way  across  we  struck  a  little  island,  on 
which  we  found  a  few  dead  trees,  still  stand- 
ing. We  quickly  cut  down  two  or  three  of 
them  and  soon  had  a  good  fire  of  burning 
logs,  at  which  a  much  enjoyed  dinner  was 
prepared  and  eaten.  The  journey  was  then 
resumed  and  rapidly  did  we  push  on,  in  our 
endeavour  to  reach  the  western  shore  in 
time  to  make  our  camp  there  in  the  forest 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    53 

before  the  darkness  fell  upon  us.  To  our 
great  disappointment,  a  wintry  haze  settled 
down  between  us  and  the  distant  shore. 
While  we  were  still  able  to  continue  our 
journey,  the  Indian  attendants  became  quite 
bewildered,  and  missed  by  some  miles,  the 
place  at  which  we  wished  to  strike  the  land. 
Darkness  fell  upon  us  before  the  Indian 
running  on  ahead  was  able  to  announce  that 
we  had  reached  the  shore.  We  found  that 
we  had  arrived  at  a  place  where  the  bold, 
high  banks  rose  up  perpendicularly  from 
the  water,  now  of  course,  converted  into 
solid  ice. 

After  some  fruitless  attempts  to  find  a 
place  where  it  was  possible  to  clamber  up 
with  our  dog  trains  into  the  forest  above, 
we  gave  up  the  prospect  of  having  a  decent 
camp  in  the  woods  that  night  and  began 
making  what  preparations  we  could  to 
spend  the  night  there  on  the  ice.  Fortu- 
nately for  us,  the  banks  were  of  clay,  and 
the  fierce  storms  of  many  summers  had  so 
eaten  into  them,  that  many  trees,  growing 
on  the  top,  had  had  the  soil  so  washed  away 
from  the  roots  that  they  had  fallen  head- 
long to  the  shore  beneath.  Here  amidst  the 
snowdrifts  that  had  accumulated  and  nearly 


54          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

buried  these  fallen  trees  out  of  sight,  we 
vigourously  plied  our  axes  and  cut  out  a 
quantity  of  logs  and  branches  with  which  to 
make  a  fire. 

In  order  to  make  a  fire  on  the  ice,  that 
will  continue  burning  long  enough  for  the 
cooking  of  a  supper,  and  the  thawing  out 
of  frozen  fish  for  our  dogs,  it  is  necessary 
first  to  lay  a  foundation  of  logs,  the  greener 
and  the  more  difficult  to  burn  the  better,  on 
which  the  actual  fire  can  be  built.  The  sup- 
ply of  wood  was  limited,  or  rather  very  diffi- 
cult to  obtain,  so  buried  was  it  in  the  snow. 

We  succeeded  at  last,  however,  even  if  we 
had  no  light  but  the  stars,  and  they,  owing 
to  the  haze,  were  far  from  being  as  brilliant 
as  usual.  When  at  length  our  fire  was 
brightly  blazing  out  there  on  the  ice,  it  was 
a  picturesque  sight.  But  there  was  no  time 
for  mere  sentiment,  as  we  knew  full  well 
that  the  instant  the  fire  burnt  down  through 
its  foundation  of  logs,  the  steam  from  the 
melting  ice  would  extinguish  it.  Hence 
everybody  was  busy  and  no  time  was  lost  in 
preparing  our  supper  or  thawing  the  fish  for 
the  dogs.  Everything  went  off  to  our  satis- 
faction. Some  of  the  Indians,  refreshed  by 
their  suppers,  hurried  off,  and  by  the  light 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    55 

of  the  still  blazing  fire  cut  a  fresh  supply  of 
wood,  including  a  quantity  of  green  logs  for 
a  new  foundation.  This  gave  us  the  means 
for  a  brilliant  fire  with  which  to  prepare  our 
beds  for  a  few  hours'  needed  sleep  and  rest 
on  the  ice. 

Suddenly  our  pleasant  anticipations  of  a 
quiet,  restful  night,  which  we  much  needed, 
were  rudely  scattered  to  the  winds.  Hush- 
ing into  our  midst  without  the  slightest  in- 
timation of  their  approach,  there  appeared 
half  a  dozen  wild  looking  Indians  accom- 
panied by  over  a  dozen  of  vicious,  half- 
starved  Huskie  dogs.  The  men  greeted  us 
most  effusively,  which  was  a  sign  that  they 
were  thinking  of  the  big  supper  they  ex- 
pected us  to  give  them.  The  wolfish  dogs, 
however,  did  not  even  have  the  politeness  to 
greet  us,  but  after  a  sudden  fierce  attack 
upon  my  hired  dogs,  whom  they  drove  away 
from  the  fire,  they  at  once  set  upon  and  be- 
gan to  devour  everything  eatable,  in  which 
they  could  fasten  their  teeth.  My  Indians 
were  indignant,  and  instantly  seizing  their 
whips  and  firebrands,  they  vigourously  as- 
sailed these  wolfish  dogs  and  at  length  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  them  a  few  yards  from  the 
fire.  We  saw  that  we  were  in  for  a  miser- 


56  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

able  night,  with  varied  experiences  that 
would  be  anything  but  pleasant. 

While  two  of  the  men  with  whips  and 
clubs  kept  the  invading  Eskimo  beasts 
out  of  the  camp,  with  my  other  Indian  I 
chatted  with  these  visiting  strangers.  They 
told  me  that  they  had  come  from  the  Cum- 
berland district  to  fish  through  the  ice  on 
Lake  Winnipeg,  and  hunt  what  game  they 
could  find  in  the  forests  on  the  shore.  They 
said  that  they  had  had  very  little  success 
and  were  very  hungry. 

I  gave  them  a  liberal  supply  of  food  and 
a  package  of  tea,  and  after  a  long  chat  po- 
litely requested  them  to  return  to  their  own 
camp,  which  was  some  distance  up  the  coast, 
and  from  which  they  had  seen  our  camp- 
fire.  Its  brightness  was  the  cause  of  this 
visit.  In  vain  my  protestations  and  kindly 
request  for  their  departure!  The  fact  of 
our  being  tired  and  weary  and  wanting  the 
night's  rest  never  seemed  to  have  entered 
into  their  minds.  What  they  said  was : 

"  We  are  so  glad  to  have  met  the  '  black 
coat '  the  friend  of  the  Indian,  that  we  must 
stay  with  him  as  long  as  we  can." 

So  they  set  to  work,  and  with  my  kettles 
cooked  the  food  which  I  had  given  them. 


Robber  Dugs  and  an  Indian  Council     57 

Seeing  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  rid  of 
them,  I  held  a  brief  consultation  with  my 
men  as  to  the  best  manner  of  saving  our 
supplies  from  that  pack  of  cunning  rascals. 
How  innocent  they  looked,  sitting  out  there 
bunched  together  on  the  ice,  and  just  wait- 
ing until  we  would  go  to  sleep.  Two  of  the 
men  turned  up  the  sleds,  and,  sleeping  be- 
tween them  and  their  loads,  they  managed 
to  get  through  the  night  with  but  the  loss 
of  a  few  fish  and  the  cutting  of  numerous 
deer  skin  thongs,  to  which  the  loads  are 
tied  on  the  sleds. 

My  guide  and  myself  took  charge  of  the 
bag  of  cooked  supplies  and  placed  them 
under  the  outer  coverings  of  our  beds,  which 
were  unrolled  and  arranged  for  us  on  the 
ice.  As  on  other  occasions,  under  almost 
similar  circumstances,  I  placed  close  at 
hand  a  number  of  sticks  which  I  could  use 
as  clubs,  as  well  as  my  heavy  dog-whip. 

Our  Indian  visitors,  at  length  seeing  that 
we  were  anxious  to  get  some  sleep,  left  us. 
But  not  so  their  dogs.  Vainly  my  men  tried 
to  drive  the  half-starved  brutes  after  their 
masters.  They  cared  not  for  the  calls 
sounding  in  front  of  them,  or  the  clubs  and 
execrations  hurled  at  them  in  the  rear. 


58  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

It  was  now  long  after  midnight.  Our 
fires  in  several  places  had  burnt  down 
through  their  log  foundations,  and  the  hiss- 
ing steam  from  the  melting  ice  below  gradu- 
ally extinguished  the  flames,  that  were,  on 
the  higher  places,  bravely  striving  to  keep 
up  their  brightness. 

Darkness  at  length  settled  upon  us  and 
soon  the  fun  began.  In  spite  of  our  watch- 
fulness those  Eskimo  dogs  proved  too 
much  for  us.  They  walked  over  us;  they 
sat  down  upon  us;  they  fought  across  us. 
Waking  up,  I  was  as  though  I  had  had  the 
night-mare.  We  threw  our  clubs  at  them; 
we  thrashed  them  with  our  whips;  we 
chased  them  far  out  on  the  lake,  but  they 
were  back  about  as  soon  as  we  were.  We 
thought  we  were  good  watchmen  and  that  at 
least  some  of  us  were  on  the  alert  all  the 
time.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Those  dogs 
got  our  venison  and  buns  and  many  other 
things.  One  of  them  ate  several  feet  off  the 
end  of  one  of  the  heavy  whip-lashes,  and 
another  devoured  or  carried  off  the  mocca- 
sins of  one  of  the  men  who  had  put  them  to 
dry  when  the  fire  was  bright,  and  had  for- 
gotten to  remove  them  when  the  flame  was 
suddenly  smothered  by  the  steam.  We  were 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    59 

a  demoralized  lot  of  travellers  when  the  first 
grey  shadows  of  morning  came  the  next  day. 
My  men  called  in  their  timid  dogs  from  the 
distance,  and  we  were  grateful  that  none  of 
them  had  been  devoured.  We  harnessed 
them  up,  tied  on  our  loads — or  what  was 
left  of  them — and  departed  with  a  firm  re- 
solve that,  if  possible,  in  the  future  we 
would  try  to  reach  a  forest  camp,  where,  if 
again  assailed  by  such  dogs  as  these,  that 
had  so  over-matched  us,  we  would  at  least 
have  the  trees  in  which  we  could  hang  up 
our  supplies,  and  if  necessary  climb  into 
ourselves. 

With  supplies  very  much  diminished,  our 
enthusiasm  cooled,  and  our  conceit  below 
zero,  as  regards  ability  to  overmatch  Huskie 
dogs,  we  proceeded  on  our  way.  We  were 
a  quiet  party — only  one  question  that  I  can 
remember,  being  asked  that  day.  It  was 
something  about  like  this: 

"  If  the  Evil  One  should  come  to  trouble 
us  in  the  form  of  an  animal,  which  one 
would  it  likely  be?  " 

The  guide  said,  "Huskie;"  and  we  all 
affirmatively  chorused,  "  Che-ka-ma." 

Towards  night  we  reached  one  of  our  dis- 
tant outposts.  Here  we  exchanged  a  few 


60          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

pounds  of  tea  for  some  fish  and  rabbits,  and 
I  lived  on  them,  in  place  of  the  supplies  the 
native  dogs  had  appropriated  to  themselves. 
After  some  days'  visit  here,  the  journey  was 
resumed  and,  after  varied  experience,  gener- 
ally more  annoying  than  pleasant,  with 
these  hired  dogs,  on  the  day  appointed  we 
reached  the  village  of  the  Indians  with 
whom  the  council  was  to  be  held. 

The  natives  who  had  visited  me  had  evi- 
dently returned  with  glowing  accounts  of 
their  interview.  We  found  the  people  in  a 
very  excited  condition  and  eager  to  hear 
what  the  "  blackcoat "  had  to  say  to  them 
on  this  all-important  question. 

They  gave  us  a  salute  from  all  of  their 
guns  that  were  available,  and  freely  offered 
us  the  pipe  from  their  own  mouths.  Never 
having  acquired  the  "  fumigatory  art,"  I 
was  obliged  to  transfer  the  calumets  to  my 
men,  and  have  them  do  all  of  the  smoking 
expected  of  me,  as  by  proxy.  Singular  to 
relate,  this  my  men  were  ever  willing  and 
even  anxious  to  do  for  me. 

Our  first  important  duties  after  the  noisy 
welcomes  were  over  and  the  pipes  had  been 
duly  passed  around,  was  to  secure  our  sleds 
with  their  important  loads.  My  Indian 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    61 

drivers  securely  fastened  their  dogs  with  a 
stick  and  two  thongs  in  the  manner  de- 
scribed elsewhere.  The  village  was  so  in- 
fested with  hungry  looking  dogs,  that  we 
decided  our  only  safe  way  was  to  put  our 
sleds  and  loads  not  needed  upon  an  empty 
fish  staging  at  least  eight  feet  above  the 
ground.  Here  they  were  fortunately  safe. 

The  great  council  was  not  held  until  all 
had  returned  to  their  wigwams  and  had 
their  evening  meal.  Then  the  important 
gathering  took  place.  These  Indians  had 
built  a  log  council  house  which  would  hold 
several  hundred  people.  When  I  was  es- 
corted into  it,  the  sight  was  picturesque  in 
the  extreme.  Near  the  centre  on  a  raised 
platform  of  earth  the  council  fire  was  burn- 
ing. Grouped  around  it  were  the  chiefs  and 
principal  men  of  that  band  of  Indians,  as 
well  as  some  distinguished  visitors  from 
other  places,  who  had  come  for  information 
on  this  important  question,  which  was  agi- 
tating the  minds  of  many  Indians  of  the  dif- 
ferent tribes.  All  had  brought  out  their 
finest  Indian  costumes  and  many  were  gor- 
geously arrayed. 

The  calumet,  or  pipe  of  peace,  was  then 
lit  with  a  good  deal  of  ceremony.  After  be- 


62  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

ing  passed  around  and  a  whiff  or  two  drawn 
by  them  all,  it  was  returned  to  the  principal 
chief,  who  handed  it  to  his  pipe-bearer. 
Then  the  speech-making  began  and  lasted 
for  several  hours.  Indians  are  natural  ora- 
tors. They  have  a  readiness  of  utterance,  a 
fluency  of  words,  a  play  of  fancy  and  a  rich- 
ness of  illustration,  that  is,  at  times,  very 
remarkable.  Give  an  Indian  orator  a  theme 
in  which  he  is  interested  and  time  to  medi- 
tate upon  it,  and  he  will  make  a  speech  that 
many  an  orator  in  highly  civilized  lands 
might  envy  but  could  seldom  equal. 

Indians  are  very  courteous  as  well  as  dig- 
nified in  debate.  A  speaker  is  never  inter- 
rupted while  giving  his  address.  To  his  re- 
marks all  give  the  most  earnest  attention, 
no  matter  how  much  their  views  may  differ 
from  his,  or  how  irritating  they  may  seem 
to  a  white  man.  Such  a  thing  as  abruptly 
interrupting  the  speaker  in  the  midst  of  his 
oration  is  unknown. 

Another  remarkable  fact  is  the  tenacity 
of  their  memories  and  the  ability  of  a 
speaker  to  reply  to  the  address  of  an  oppo- 
nent. Such  a  thing  as  taking  notes  is  un- 
known among  them,  and  hence  their  good 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    63 

memories  have  to  be  depended  upon  and  are 
very  rarely  questioned. 

In  this  council  which  we  visited,  there 
were  many  divergent  views  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  demands  to  be  made  on  the  Gov- 
ernment for  the  surrender  of  their  lands. 
One  very  amusing  request,  which  at  first 
was  urged  as  an  essential  requisite  in  re- 
turn for  ceding  away  their  country,  was  that 
every  one  of  them  should  be  permitted  to 
ride  free  on  the  "  smoke- waggons,"  which 
the  palefaces  would  after  awhile  be  running 
through  their  country.  They  seemed  quite 
glum  and  disappointed  when  I  candidly  told 
them  that  this  favour  would  not  be  granted 
to  them.  I  told  them  that,  much  as  it  cost 
us  to  buy  dogs  and  run  dog  trains,  it  would 
cost  the  white  men  so  much  more  to  run 
these  railroads,  that  everybody,  with  per- 
haps the  exception  of  the  head  chiefs,  when 
they  went  to  meet  the  great  Governor  on 
council  business,  would  have  to  pay  for  the 
pleasure  of  riding.  They  were  still  very 
loath  to  surrender  this  point,  on  which  they 
had  evidently  set  their  hearts. 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  I  had 
to  explain  that  in  no  lands  where  railroads 


64  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

were  running,  were  these  favours  granted  to 
the  people,  and  appealing  to  the  chiefs,  I 
tried  to  show  them  what  an  injury  it  would 
be  to  them  as  a  community,  when  by  and 
by  settled  on  their  reserves,  if,  say,  when 
they  ought  to  be  planting  potatoes  or  sew- 
ing their  grain,  they  were  off  riding  through 
the  country  on  these  railroads.  Why,  they 
would  soon  be  starving  for  food.  This  ar- 
gument and  the  fact  that,  in  all  probability, 
the  chiefs  themselves  would  have  "  passes," 
for  their  business  visits  to  the  Governor, 
brought  them  over  to  my  side  of  thinking, 
and  so  from  them  we  had  some  most  amus- 
ing impromptu  orations  on  the  dire  disaster 
that  might  occur  at  critical  times,  because 
the  people  were  off  gadding  about  the  coun- 
try, instead  of  being  at  home  minding  their 
own  business. 

About  midnight  the  council  ended,  after 
the  calumet  had  made  its  rounds  again,  and 
words  of  thanks  had  been  uttered  to  the 
white  brother :  "  who,"  they  said,  "  had  come 
so  far  to  quiet  their  minds,  and  whose  heart 
was  so  good  towards  them."  Then  the  In- 
dians, one  after  another,  withdrew,  and  with 
my  men  I  was  left  alone  in  the  council 
house.  Near  the  smouldering  embers  of  the 


Robber  Dogs  and  an  Indian  Council    65 

council  fire,  my  bed  was  unrolled  and  pre- 
pared for  me.  My  travelling  companions 
lay  down  near  me  in  their  rabbit-skin  blank- 
ets, and  soon  we  were  fast  asleep.  The  next 
day  we  resumed  our  :ourney,  and  after  mak- 
ing a  few  visits  to  other  places,  we  reached 
our  home  without  any  special  adventure. 

The  next  year,  when  the  Government  offi- 
cials met  these  Indians,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  treaty  with  them,  they  were  agree- 
ably surprised  and  delighted  with  the 
promptness  and  intelligence  with  which  the 
Indians  discussed  the  various  provisions  of 
the  treaty  being  made  with  them.  They 
were  also  surprised  that  these  Indians  did 
not  make  a  stubborn  demand  for  free  rides 
for  every  one  of  them  in  the  "  smoke- wag- 
gons." This  was  so  remarkable  in  contrast 
to  the  actions  of  Indians  in  other  places 
that  some  of  the  white  Commissioners  could 
not  but  ask  the  reason  of  the  moderation  of 
their  demands. 

"  Oh,"  they  said;  "  that  is  all  right  We 
talked  that  out  at  our  big  council  with  a 
'  black-coat,'  and  we  there  found  that  it 
would  not  do  to  have  the  people  riding  about 
the  country,  when  they  ought  to  be  home 
.looking  after  their  affairs." 


IV 

JACK,  THE  GIANT  ST.   BERNARD 

c(    \    POOR    Missionary's    dog;    please 
don't  steal  him." 

This  was  what  was  engraved  on 
the  brass  plate  that  was  securely  fastened 
to  the  collar-like  strap  that  was  on  his  neck. 
He  was  a  magnificent  St.  Bernard  dog,  and 
his  name  was  Jack.  For  more  than  a  month 
he  had  been  en  route,  and  during  that  time, 
in  various  styles  of  conveyances,  he  had 
travelled  over  three  thousand  miles.  He 
had  been  accompanied  by  a  very  beautiful 
thoroughbred  Newfoundland  dog,  whose 
name  was  Cuffy.  They  were  both  the  gift 
of  the  Hon.  Senator  Sanford,  of  Hamilton, 
Ontario. 

Sick  and  disgusted  with  the  native  Es- 
kimo and  mongrel  dogs  of  that  Northland, 
with  their  many  shortcomings  and  wretched 
tricks,  I  had  written  out  to  friends  in  civili- 
zation to  come  to  my  rescue  by  securing  for 
me  some  of  the  large,  valuable  dogs  that 
66 


EGEKTON    R.    YOUNG    AND    JACK. 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  67 

friends  were  merely  keeping  for  pleasure. 
These  would  be  of  great  service  to  me  in  the 
work  which  necessitated  my  journeying 
some  thousands  of  miles  every  winter  with 
my  dog  trains.  My  appeals  caused  a  great 
deal  of  merriment  at  the  time,  so  unique  did 
they  appear  to  some.  A  few  good  friends 
who  could  appreciate  the  situation  re- 
sponded so  kindly  and  generously  that  it 
was  not  long  ere  I  had  the  finest  dogs  in  all 
that  great  country. 

With  them  it  was  a  very  great  pleasure 
to  travel.  Possessing  all  the  good  qualities 
of  the  Eskimo  dogs  and  yet  none  of  their 
thievish  habits,  I  could  rely  on  them  in  any 
emergency,  knowing  full  well  that  they 
would  do,  without  fail,  everything  that 
could,  with  reason,  be  expected  from  dogs. 
Including  young  dogs,  I  often  had  as  many 
as  thirty  in  my  possession  at  the  same  time. 
This  may  seem  a  large  number  for  a  mis- 
sionary to  have  had,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  not  only  did  I  generally  require 
four  trains  for  efficient  work  when  on  my 
long  winter  journeys,  but,  in  addition,  there 
were  duties  at  the  home  Mission  that  re- 
quired the  services  of  generally  a  couple  of 
strong  trains. 


68          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

My  good  wife  was  also  the  owner  of  a 
capital  train,  that  was  generally  kept  well 
employed,  under  the  charge  of  an  efficient 
driver,  in  taking  her  around,  as,  on  her  mis- 
sions of  comfort  and  helpfulness,  she  visited 
the  wigwams  and  other  lowly  homes  of  the 
Indians,  where  sickness  prevailed.  All  the 
wood,  some  winters,  required  for  the  great 
stoves  in  the  church,  school  house,  and  Mis- 
sion home,  was  dragged  from  the  adjacent 
forests  by  my  dog  trains.  In  addition  to 
this,  after  I  had  been  in  the  country  some 
time,  I  kept  several  cows,  and  for  three 
years  tried  the  risky  experiment  of  keeping 
a  couple  of  horses  in  those  high  latitudes. 
Of  course,  I  required  a  large  quantity  of 
hay.  All  this,  which  had  been  cut  and  dried 
during  the  short  summer  months,  in  distant 
marshy  places  and  old  dried-up  beaver 
meadows,  was  dragged  home  to  my  stables 
by  the  dogs  on  specially  prepared  sleds.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  how  essential  for  efficient 
work  good  dogs  would  be,  and  so  I  welcomed 
the  coming  of  Jack  and  Cuffy  with  great 
anticipation  and  delight,  and  never  once 
did  either  of  them  fail  or  disappoint  me. 

Jack,  when  he  reached  his  prime,  was 
thirty-three  inches  high  at  the  fore-shoulder. 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  69 

His  weight  averaged  from  one  hundred  and 
eighty  to  two  hundred  pounds.  Like  all  my 
dogs,  his  weight  was  at  the  lowest  point 
when  we  returned  from  our  long  toilsome 
trips,  often  of  weeks'  duration.  I  did  not 
have  the  slightest  trouble  in  breaking  him 
into  his  work  in  the  harness.  A  few  kind 
words  and  a  little  patience,  and  from  that 
hour  no  better  dog  was  ever  harnessed.  The 
only  battles  I  ever  had  with  him  were  about 
Cuffy,  his  companion.  These  will  be  de- 
Bcribed  later. 

Jack's  place  was  second  dog  in  the  train. 
He  could  lead  splendidly  and  would  re- 
spond to  the  various  calls  as  promptly  as  a 
well  trained  horse  does  to  the  reins,  but  he 
was  of  too  affectionate  a  nature,  and  he  and 
his  master  were  on  too  intimate  terms  of 
friendship,  for  him  to  be  assigned  to  the 
post  of  leadership  if  the  trail  on  which  we 
were  going  were  a  dangerous  one,  and  Jack 
became  possessed  with  the  idea  that  his  be- 
loved master  was  running  any  risk  of  dis- 
aster or  peril.  In  the  very  worst  spots,  he 
would  sometimes  suddenly  whirl  round  with 
the  whole  train,  and  with  a  rush,  would 
come  to  the  rear  of  the  sled,  where  I  was 
riding,  and  shoving  his  great  face  in  mine, 


70          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

would  as  well  as  any  dog  could  put  it,  say : 
"  Master,  this  is  a  very  risky  place,  and 
so  I  have  just  come  back  for  a  minute  to  see 
if  you  are  all  right." 

This,  of  course,  was  very  kind  and 
thoughtful  on  the  part  of  Jack,  but  he  was 
only  a  dog,  and  so  did  not  realize  that  in 
such  erratic  movements  he  was,  while  show- 
ing his  solicitude  for  his  master,  very  much 
adding  to  the  risks  that  were  being  run.  So 
after  some  amusing,  and  two  or  three  very 
risky  adventures,  Jack  was  relegated  to  the 
place  of  the  second  dog  in  the  train.  Cuffy 
had  the  place  behind  him,  while  a  powerful 
and  well  trained  dog  had  the  dangerous  and 
responsible  position  of  sleigh  dog.  The 
sleigh  dog  is  more  liable  to  accident  and  in- 
jury than  any  other  dog  in  the  train.  His 
quick  eye  and  active  movements  to  the  right 
or  to  the  left,  in  the  narrow  crooked  trail, 
must  ever  guard  the  sleigh  from  striking 
against  the  trees,  which  at  times  are  so  nu- 
merous and  so  provokingly  in  the  way. 
Then  if  the  three  dogs  in  front  of  him  have 
in  their  foolishness  dashed  on  between  two 
trees  growing  so  closely  together,  that  it  is 
doubtful  if  there  is  room  for  the  sleigh  to 
pass  through  without  injury,  it  is  the  duty; 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  71 

of  this  last  dog  in  the  train  to  so  quickly 
stop  and  throw  himself  back,  that  the  three 
dogs  ahead  of  him  are  as  suddenly  brought 
to  a  standstill  as  though  pulled  up  with  a 
lasso.  So  well  trained  and  intelligent  are 
some  of  these  sleigh  dogs,  in  this  work,  that 
it  seems  as  though  they  can  judge  within  a 
very  few  inches  whether  the  narrow  passage 
is  sufficiently  wide  for  the  sleigh,  for  which 
they  well  know  they  are  held  responsible, 
to  pass  through. 

The  marvellous  leader  of  my  own  favour- 
ite train  was  Voyageur,  a  great  one-eyed  dog 
of  unclassed  breed,  morose  and  unsociable, 
but  the  peerless  leader  for  a  number  of 
years.  Of  him  I  will  have  something  to  say 
of  interest  in  another  place. 

Distempers  and  other  diseases  played  sad 
havoc  at  times  among  the  dogs.  Some  years 
at  least  a  third  of  my  trained  dogs  would 
be  thus  cut  off.  So  it  was  always  necessary 
to  have  a  number  of  young  ones  coming  to 
full  size,  to  take  the  places  of  those  that  had 
fallen.  The  work  of  breaking  in  these  new 
dogs  was  sometimes  a  very  difficult  task. 
While  there  were  those,  like  Jack  and  Cufify, 
that  took  naturally  and  quickly  to  the  work, 
there  were  others  that  offered  the  most  des- 


72  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

perate  and  stubborn  resistance  ere  they  sur- 
rendered and  became  serviceable.  In  the 
work  of  breaking  in  obstinate  young  dogs, 
I  found  that  Jack  was  my  best  assistant. 
He  delighted  in  the  work,  and  it  was  simply 
marvellous  at  times  to  see  the  cleverness 
and  thoroughness  with  which  he  seconded 
my  efforts.  The  plan  I  generally  adopted 
in  breaking  in  a  big,  stubborn  young  dog, 
was  to  harness  him  up  in  a  train  with  three 
strong,  well  trained  ones  in  front  of  him 
and  Jack  in  harness  behind  him.  When 
"  Marche !  ",  the  word  for  "  Go !  ",  was 
shouted,  the  old  dogs  would,  of  course,  at 
once  spring  to  advance.  This  the  new  dog 
would  generally  attempt  to  prevent,  by 
stubbornly  balking.  Most  desperately 
would  he  exert  all  of  his  strength  to  hold 
his  ground  against  the  efforts  of  the  dogs  in 
front  This  was  Jack's  opportunity  to  show 
what  he  could  do  in  speedily  bringing  the 
young  dog  to  his  senses. 

"  Go  for  him,  Jack,"  was  all  I  had  to  say. 
With  a  rush  and  a  roar  Jack  would  spring 
at  the  stubborn  dog,  and  with  more  noise 
and  furor  than  actual  biting,  he  would  so 
frighten  the  now  terrified  young  animal, 
that  he  was  glad  to  spring  to  his  feet  and 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  73 

make  the  most  desperate  effort  to  get  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  enormous  dog  that  was 
making  it  so  lively  in  his  rear.  As  long  as 
the  youngster  kept  going  on  straight  in  the 
trail,  Jack  did  not  molest  him,  but  it  often 
happened  that  a  stubborn  dog  hated  to  yield 
quickly,  and  so  tried  various  other  tricks. 
One  was  to  try  to  run  ahead  of  the  steady 
dogs  in  front.  This  Jack  easily  prevented. 
Sometimes  he  would  rush  forward,  and  sud- 
denly seizing  the  transgressor  by  a  hind  leg 
or  his  tail,  would  speedily  drag  him  back 
into  his  place.  At  other  times  he  would 
throw  himself  back  with  such  force  that  the 
delinquent  was  speedily  jerked  back  into 
line.  Thus  every  trick  or  artifice  of  the 
young  dog  would  be  so  promptly  met  and 
defeated  that  it  was  not  long  ere  the  train- 
ing lessons  were  completely  learned,  and 
the  young  dog  was  thoroughly  fitted  for  his 
work. 

It  was  highly  amusing  to  watch  Jack's 
kindly  patronising  way  towards  these  dogs, 
as  soon  as  they  were  conquered  and  then  let 
out  of  their  harness.  While  they  were  being 
broken  in,  he  had  appeared  to  be  the  personi- 
fication of  fierceness  and  anger;  now,  how- 
ever, that  they  had  surrendered,  in  dog-like 


74          My  Dogs  in  the  Northlaud 

fashion  he  licked  their  faces  and  bruises  and 
was  effusively  affectionate  in  his  demeanour 
towards  them.  Some  of  them  were,  at  first, 
not  much  inclined  to  receive  these  friendly 
advances,  but  eventually,  perhaps  after  he 
had  fought  a  battle  or  two  in  their  defence, 
they  came  to  be  very  much  attached  to  him 
as  their  friend,  while  they  never  questioned 
his  title  as  their  master  in  the  pack,  no  mat- 
ter of  how  many  great  dogs  it  consisted. 

Jack  was  very  helpful  to  us  in  the  cold 
wintry  mornings  in  the  camps,  when  we 
determined  to  resume  our  journey  long  be- 
fore daylight.  It  was  very  provoking  when 
we  ascertained  that  some  of  the  dogs  could 
not  be  found.  Cunning  white  ones  were 
lying  somewhere  invisible  in  the  snow,  and 
would  not  respond  to  the  calls  of  their 
names,  no  matter  how  endearingly  bawled 
out.  Others,  of  a  darker  hue,  well  knowing 
that  their  colour  would  betray  them  if  they 
remained  in  their  nests  in  the  pure  white 
snow,  had,  the  instant  that  they  noticed  any 
movement  at  the  camp,  noiselessly  skulked 
away  into  the  darkness  of  the  dense  balsam 
trees,  and  there  were  equally  deaf  to  the 
calling  of  their  names,  no  matter  how  well 
garnished  with  affixes  or  prefixes.  These 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  75 

skulking  tricks  were  most  annoying,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  long  delays  they  sometimes 
occasioned.  It  was  a  very  great  satisfaction 
to  my  Indian  drivers  when  Jack  at  length 
grasped  the  situation  and  proved  himself 
equal  to  any  two  of  the  men  in  hunting 
down  and  promptly  bringing  in  the  miser- 
able offenders. 

Quite  fairly  Jack  was  a  privileged  char- 
acter among  the  dogs,  for  he  and  Cuffy 
always  slept  close  to  me  in  the  camp,  on  the 
outside  of  my  robes.  When  the  men  began 
harnessing  up  their  trains,  it  was  soon  seen 
which  dogs  were  missing.  An  honest  effort 
was  generally  made  by  the  men  to  capture 
them,  before  they  would  appeal  to  me  for 
Jack  to  come  to  their  help.  When,  however, 
it  was  seen  that  some  were  still  undiscov- 
ered, Jack  was  speedily  set  to  work.  All  I 
had  to  do  was  to  show  him  one  of  the  empty 
collars,  and  to  tell  him  to  go  and  find  the 
dog  that  had  the  head  that  ought  to  be  in  it 
One  good  smell  at  it  was  all  that  he  re- 
quired, and  then  he  was  off  with  a  rush. 
Bound  and  round  the  camp  he  would  go, 
until  he  struck  the  trail  of  the  dog  for  which 
he  was  searching.  When  this  was  found  a 
joyous  bark  gave  us  the  news  that  he  was  on 


76  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  right  scent,  and  it  would  not  be  long 
before  the  truant  dog  would  be  driven  into 
the  camp.  Jack  was  given  a  few  minutes  to 
rest,  during  which  he  was  well  praised  for 
his  success.  Then  another  empty  collar  was 
shown  him  and  again  he  was  off.  Some- 
times an  ugly  dog  would  show  fight,  but  he 
never  did  it  the  second  time,  so  severe  would 
be  the  shaking  that  Jack  would  give  him. 
Thus,  one  by  one,  the  skulkers  would  be  run 
in  until  the  trains  were  full  and  the  day's 
journey  could  be  begun. 

As  Jack  and  Cuffy  were  the  two  dogs  that 
were  allowed  to  share  our  home  life  with  us, 
and  as  our  guardians  slept  inside  of  the 
house  every  night,  when  not  away  on  long 
winter  trips,  it  was  but  right  that  they 
should  be  better  cared  for  than  those  dogs 
that  were  not  accustomed  to  the  warmth  of 
the  house.  So  every  night,  after  my  camp 
bed  was  made  and  I  was  snugly  tucked  in 
by  my  loyal  and  most  attentive  Indians, 
Jack  quickly  stretched  out  his  great  body  at 
my  back,  while  Cuffy  preferred  to  cuddle 
down  on  the  robes  at  my  feet.  Doubtless  she 
selected  this  place  as  generally  a  great  blaz- 
ing fire  was  burning  not  far  distant  from 
my  feet,  and  she  was  anxious  to  enjoy  its 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  77 

warmth  as  long  as  it  continued.  Next  to  me 
on  the  other  side  from  Jack,  my  guide  and 
the  Indian  dog  drivers  would  cuddle  down 
under  their  warm  rabbit-skin  robes,  and 
sleep  very  soundly,  although  at  times  the 
nights  were  so  bitterly  cold  that  I  used  to 
think  that  I  was  really  freezing  to  death. 

We  occasionally  allowed  some  of  the 
younger  well-behaved  dogs  to  sleep  at  the 
feet  of  or  around  the  Indians,  but  as  a  rule 
they  had  to  dig  holes  in  the  snow  and  sleep 
there  as  best  they  could.  It  was  a  queer 
fact  that  they  would  not  sleep  together  and 
thus  aid  in  keeping  each  other  warm.  Even 
Jack  and  Cuffy,  although  very  fond  of  each 
other,  never  cared  to  sleep  near  to  each 
other. 

Jack  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  holidays, 
which  were  absolutely  necessary  between 
the  long  winter  journeys  which  were  being 
made  to  various  places,  so  distant  and  re- 
mote, in  the  different  parts  of  that  vast  re- 
gion of  country.  While  at  his  work,  he 
never  would  show  any  signs  of  weariness  or 
discouragement.  To  the  very  last  hour,  no 
matter  how  fierce  the  blizzards  or  how 
wretched  the  trails,  his  head  was  up  and 
his  traces  were  taut.  Other  dogs  might  and 


78  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

often  did  become  discouraged,  and  by  both 
voice  and  whip  had  to  be  urged  on  in  the 
laborious  toil,  but  Jack  was  game  to  the 
end  of  the  journey.  However,  when  the 
work  was  done  and  he  was  once  more 
stretched  out  on  the  wolf-skin  rug  in  the 
study  in  the  Mission  home,  he  seemed  to 
know  that  he  had  well  earned  his  rest  and 
most  thoroughly  did  he  enjoy  it  For  three 
or  four  days  he  just  wanted  to  be  severely 
let  alone;  after  that  he  was  himself  again, 
ready  to  romp  with  the  little  ones,  to  whom 
he  was  most  loyally  attached,  or  to  tease  the 
Indian  servant  girl  in  the  kitchen,  in  ways 
that  at  times  nearly  drove  her  distracted, 
but  which  provoked  everybody  else  to  laugh- 
ter. In  various  ways  he  was  useful  about 
the  house.  When  coming  in  after  a  heavy 
day's  work,  footsore  and  tired,  all  I  had  to 
do  was  to  shout  out :  "  Slippers ! "  At 
once  Jack  understood  and  immediately  the 
search  for  the  slippers  began.  As  some- 
times, to  try  his  skill,  they  had  purposely 
been  hid,  it  was  amusing  to  see  how  dili- 
gently he  searched  every  room  in  the  house 
until  he  found  them.  The  longer  the  search, 
the  greater  seemed  the  pride  with  which  he 
proudly  brought  them  to  me.  One  day  when 


Jack,  the  Giant  St.  Bernard  79 

he  was  out  in  another  room,  while  I  was  in 
my  study,  I  called  out : 

"  Slippers,  slippers !  "  Jack  at  once  be- 
gan his  usual  search.  He  hunted  every 
room.  He  bothered  the  women  folks  until 
they  had  to  open  closets  and  drawers  for 
him.  Failing  completely,  at  length  he  came 
into  the  study,  as  it  were  to  report  his  want 
of  success.  At  once  his  quick  eyes  detected 
the  long  looked  for  slippers  on  my  feet.  He 
gave  me  a  look  which,  if  it  had  been  on  a 
human  face,  would  have  been  called  one  of 
disgust.  Then  turning  round  he  haughtily 
left  the  room  and  did  not  return  to  it  again 
that  day.  After  that,  when  I  called 
"  Slippers,"  while  he  was  too  loyal  to  dis- 
obey, he  always  came  at  once  to  the  study 
and  examined  my  feet  for  the  called-for 
articles.  If  they  were  there  he  would  give 
me  a  look  that  seemed  to  say : 

"  It  is  a  pity  that  my  master  is  becoming 
so  absent-minded." 

No  shouting  of  slippers  would  cause  him 
to  pay  the  slightest  attention  during  the 
rest  of  that  day. 


JACK.  AND  MANY  THINGS  CONCERNING  HIM 

JACK'S  household  duties  were  by  no 
means  confined  to  hunting  slippers. 
While  he  and  Cuffy  were  always  al- 
lowed to  come  into  the  house,  it  was  well 
understood  by  him  that  he  was  ever  to  be 
on  the  watch  that  no  other  dogs,  except  by 
special  permission,  were  to  be  allowed  to 
cross  the  threshold.  He  was  also  allowed 
to  go  to  church,  but  woe  to  the  Indian  dog 
that  dared  to  enter  the  door.  He  very  sel- 
dom tried  it  a  second  time. 

In  that  northern  country,  in  the  midst  of 
its  great  forests,  wood  was  used  alone  as 
fuel.  And  as  the  winters  were  seven  or 
eight  months  long,  we  used  a  great  deal  of 
it.  Then,  as  it  was  generally  of  a  light 
flashy  kind,  it  was  quickly  consumed  in  our 
great  iron  box  stoves.  The  result  was  that 
the  large  wood-boxes  in  the  houses  had  to 
be  frequently  filled  from  the  great  piles  that 
were  cut  outside.  This  work  of  carrying  in 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  8 1 

wood  was  quite  laborious  when  it  fell  to  the 
lot  of  the  servant  girl,  who  had  to  do  it  if 
no  men  were  around.  One  day,  when  the 
work  had  been  felt  to  be  specially  burden- 
some, it  was  suggested  that  perhaps  Jack 
could  be  induced  to  add  this  accomplish- 
ment to  his  many  other  clever  attainments. 
At  once  the  effort  was  made.  A  kind  of  bee 
was  organised,  and  amidst  laughter  and 
fun,  a  number  of  the  family  were  all  busily 
engaged  in  carrying  in  wood.  Jack  always 
loved  to  be  in  every  frolic,  and  so,  of  course, 
he  was  invited  to  take  part  in  this  one. 
Proudly  did  he  take  in  his  mouth  the  billet 
of  wood  assigned  to  him  and  at  once  carry 
it  into  the  kitchen  and  place  it  in  the  wood- 
box  as  deftly  as  did  the  others.  It  was  not 
long  before  he  understood  the  work  per- 
fectly and  became  such  an  adept  at  it  that 
it  was  not  necessary  for  any  one  to  be  with 
him  when  thus  employed.  When  the  supply 
of  wood  ran  low,  all  that  was  required  was 
for  some  member  of  the  family  to  say :  "  I 
wonder  if  that  big  lazy  dog  knows  that  the 
wood-box  is  empty?  " 

This  was  all  that  would  be  said.  At  once 
Jack  was  at  work.  He  would  first  open  the 
kitchen  door  and  fasten  it  open.  Then  he 


82  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

industriously  worked  away,  carrying  in 
stick  after  stick,  until  told  that  there  was 
enough.  He  was  very  proud  and  happy 
when  told  that  he  had  done  well.  It  was  no 
easy  task,  as  the  sticks  of  wood  were  at 
least  three  feet  long  and  each  weighed  sev- 
eral pounds. 

Jack  soon  learned  that  we  considered  this 
one  of  his  clever  accomplishments,  and  so 
when  he  wished  to  especially  show  off  or 
win  some  extra  compliments  or  favours  he 
industriously  went  to  work  carrying  in 
wood. 

There  was  hardly  a  long  winter  journey 
taken  but  Jack  gave  us  something  to  laugh 
at,  or  caused  us  to  be  intensely  interested 
in  some  new  exhibition  of  his  sagacity  or 
skill.  My  Indian  drivers  all  learned  to  love 
him  for  his  marvellous  strength  and  staying 
powers.  Still  it  was  evident  that  they  were 
a  little  afraid  of  him,  on  account  of  his 
enormous  size.  Only  once  did  I  ever  see  an 
Indian  driver  lift  a  whip,  as  though  to  strike 
him.  The  blow  never  fell.  Jack  saw  the 
movement,  and  although  he  was  the  second 
dog  in  the  train,  he  whirled  round  so  sud- 
denly on  the  man,  dragging  Koona  the 
leader  with  him,  that  that  Indian  had  no 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  83 

more  relish  for  driving  the  missionary's 
train  that  day. 

He  gave  us  a  great  fright,  and  then  a  good 
laugh,  one  bitterly  cold  day  by  his  falling 
through  the  thin  ice  in  a  great  crack  on  Lake 
Winnipeg.  During  the  previous  night,  as 
we  lay  in  our  camp  in  the  snow,  in  the 
woods  on  the  shore,  we  were  frequently  dis- 
turbed by  the  loud  booming  reports,  like 
distant  thunder  or  heavy  artillery.  In  re- 
sponse to  my  inquiries  from  my  Indian  com- 
rades, all  the  answer  I  received  was  the 
laconic :  "  Ice  cracking,  big  cold,  open 
places,  much  danger,  take  care." 

This,  when  amplified,  means  that  al- 
though the  ice  is  several  feet  thick,  yet  when 
the  cold  reaches  a  certain  intensity,  so  great 
is  the  contraction  that  the  ice  bursts  with 
tremendous  suddenness  and  power,  so  that 
great  openings  or  cracks,  as  they  are  called, 
are  formed  which  are  often  many  miles  in 
length,  but  generally  only  a  few  feet  in 
width.  To  the  travellers  hurrying  on,  es- 
pecially in  the  gloom  of  night,  these  cracks 
are  very  dangerous,  as  the  water  at  once 
rushes  up  even  with  the  ice,  and  some  time 
must  elapse  ere  it  freezes  sufficiently  hard 
to  support  any  hunter  or  traveller  who  may 


84          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

happen  to  come  along.  What  makes  it  the 
more  dangerous  is  the  fact  that  there  is  not 
the  slightest  evidence  of  its  existence,  until 
the  unfortunate  traveller  is  about  falling 
into  it.  The  result  is  there  are  some  narrow 
escapes  and,  at  times,  some  very  serious 
accidents.  One  night  I  had  taken  the  place 
of  my  guide,  who  had  so  badly  injured  his 
knee  that  he  was  unable  to  do  his  work. 

While  I  was  running  on  ahead  of  my 
trains,  facing  towards  the  North  Star,  I 
happened  to  glance  down  at  the  glassy  sur- 
face of  the  frozen  lake,  over  which  we  were 
now  rapidly  travelling.  At  once,  I  was  al- 
most startled  by  the  vividness  of  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  stars,  in  what  at  first  seemed  to 
be  the  ice,  but  a  few  yards  in  front  of  me. 
On  I  hurried,  and  just  as  I  was  about  to 
plunge  into  it,  to  my  horror  I  saw  that  it 
was  open  water!  Suddenly  stopping  my- 
self, I  whirled  round  and  shouted,  "  Chas- 
quaw ! "  to  my  dogs  and  Indians,  who  were 
close  at  my  heels.  It  was  a  wonder,  even  to 
the  old  experienced  Indians,  how  I  had  es- 
caped. There  was  not  the  least  coating  of 
ice  on  the  placid  water,  that  here  stretched 
out  for  unknown  miles  each  side  of  us  and 
was  some  yards  in  width  before  us.  It  was 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  85 

very  evident  that  it  had  burst  open  within 
an  hour  or  two  at  the  most.  We  had  to 
make  a  long  detour  ere  we  found  a  place 
where  the  crack  was  narrow  enough  to  let 
us  cross  and  the  journey  could  be  resumed. 
On  another  occasion,  we  had  a  queer  ad- 
venture where  the  ice  was  thin  and  Jack, 
breaking  through,  had  a  narrow  escape. 
We  were  travelling  on  Lake  Winnipeg  and 
it  was  a  bitterly  cold  day.  During  the  pre- 
vious night,  we  had  heard  enough  booming 
on  the  great  icy  expanse  to  put  us  on  our 
guard  against  these  great  cracks  and  open- 
ings, but  all  precautions  avail  but  little 
when  these  openings  freeze  over  and  the 
drifting  snow,  swirling  along,  makes  the  ice 
of  half  an  inch  or  so  look  exactly  like  that 
which  is  six  feet  thick.  On  this  occasion, 
the  roguish  Koona  was  the  leader  of  my 
train.  Jack  was  in  the  second  place,  while 
Cuffy  and  Caesar  were  behind.  The  guide, 
that  morning  was  a  light-footed  fellow  who, 
Indian-like,  could  run  easily  over  ice  so  thin 
that  no  ordinary  white  man  would  dare  to 
think  of  following.  While  speeding  on,  we 
came  to  one  of  these  cracks,  that  must  have 
opened  up  not  many  hours  before-  The  ice 
had  formed  upon  it  with  sufficient  strength 


86  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

to  allow  the  guide,  who  was  several  hundred 
yards  ahead  of  me,  to  cross  over  it  in  safety. 
When  my  train  reached  it,  the  new  ice  held 
until  Koona  had  just  barely  reached  the 
firm  old  ice  on  the  other  side.  At  that  in- 
stant it  broke  under  Jack,  and  down  he  went 
in  the  cold  water.  Poor  fellow!  he  was 
completely  submerged,  and  although  but  for 
an  instant,  it  was  quite  bath  enough  under 
such  a  temperature.  It  was  astonishing  to 
see  how  well  the  dogs  knew  how  to  act  in 
such  an  emergency.  Koona  held  on  to  his 
grip  on  the  ice,  with  all  the  strength  he  had, 
while  the  dogs  behind  Jack  at  once  pulled 
back,  as  well  as  their  collars  and  traces 
would  allow.  The  result  was,  these  taut 
traces  before  and  behind  Jack  kept  him  well 
up  in  the  water. 

Speedily  we  moved  to  get  him  out  with- 
out permitting  any  other  dogs  to  fall  in.  A 
sled  was  at  once  unloaded  and  unfastened. 
This  the  cautious  Indians  shoved  out  on  the 
unbroken  ice  at  one  side  of  Jack,  taking 
care  that  one  end  of  it  reached  to  the  firm 
ice  in  front,  while  the  rear  end  was  on  old 
ice  sufficiently  firm  to  keep  it  from  break- 
ing through.  Then  two  of  the  Indians  cau- 
tiously went  out  on  this  improvised  bridge, 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  87 

and  seizing  hold  of  the  traces  in  front  and 
rear,  they  soon  had  the  shivering  dog  up 
on  the  sled  between  them.  Carefully  were 
Cuffy  and  Caesar,  the  twyo  dogs  behind  Jack, 
guided  over  on  the  same  bridge  without  any 
mishap.  Hanging  on  to  the  cariole  to  which 
they  were  attached,  I  safely  followed,  and  in 
like  manner  all  of  our  party  crossed.  Jack 
was  in  a  deplorable  condition.  His  glossy 
coat,  usually  of  inky  blackness,  was  now 
turning  to  snowy  whiteness,  as  Jack  Frost 
speedily  began  to  exert  his  terrible  power. 
We  were  at  least  twelve  miles  from  shore, 
and  of  course  nothing  could  be  done  out 
there  on  the  ice  for  the  noble  fellow,  that  so 
pitifully  yet  mutely  looked  to  me  for  help. 

"  For  the  shore,"  was  the  cry,  "  and  a 
new  flannel  shirt  to  the  Indian  who  can  get 
there  before  the  Ookemou  (master)  and 
have  a  fire  burning  at  which  the  ice  can  be 
quickly  melted  from  poor  shivering  Jack." 

At  once  we  were  off.  A  new  flannel  shirt 
is  a  great  thing  to  an  Indian,  and  so  whips 
were  out,  and  their  pistol-like  reports  rang 
out  in  unison  with  the  drivers'  cheery  calls 
to  their  different  trains.  At  first  Jack,  so 
hampered  by  the  weight  of  his  icy  load, 
seemed  dazed  and  discouraged;  then  he 


88          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

roused  himself  up  and  appeared  to  realise 
that  his  life  depended  upon  his  quickly  get- 
ting to  that  distant  shore,  and  so  he  sprang 
to  his  work  with  an  energy  that  won  the 
admiration  of  us  all.  He  seemed  to  take  the 
rest  of  his  train,  as  well  as  the  cariole,  and 
his  master,  in  that  race  for  his  life.  No 
other  train  was  within  a  half  of  a  mile, 
when  we  dashed  up  from  the  lake  into  the 
welcome  forest,  and  so  no  shirt  was  won 
that  day. 

As  rapidly  as  possible  our  axes  were  at 
work,  and  as  one  Indian  after  another  ar- 
rived, dry  dead  trees  were  quickly  cut  down 
and  a  good  fire  was  soon  burning  on  the 
spot,  from  which  the  snow  had  been  cleared 
away.  Before  this  bright  fire  a  buffalo  robe 
was  thrown  down,  and  Jack,  still  encased 
in  ice,  and  about  as  white  as  the  spotless 
Koona,  was  placed  upon  it.  I  had  feared 
that  it  would  require  not  less  than  two  of 
us  to  hold  him  near  enough  to  the  fire,  in 
order  that  the  ice  might  be  speedily  thawed 
off. 

When  the  temperature  is  forty  or  fifty 
below  zero  out  in  the  open  air,  there  is  not 
much  thawing  power,  except  very  near  to 
the  blaze,  and  most  dogs  have  a  very 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  89 

decided  objection  to  being  found  so  close, 
where  there  is  any  danger  of  their  whiskers 
being  singed.  So  I  naturally  feared  trouble, 
and  perhaps  failure  in  my  efforts  to  save 
my  noble  dog.  Very  quickly  however  were 
our  fears  turned  into  laughter,  for  Jack  at 
once  displayed  an  intelligence  and  clever- 
ness that  simply  amazed  us  all,  wise  as  we 
all  knew  him  to  be,  for  no  sooner  did  he 
understand  that  that  buffalo  robe  and  fire 
had  been  designed  for  him,  than  he  at  once 
proceeded  to  make  the  very  best  possible 
use  of  both.  At  first  he  moved  around  on 
all  of  his  feet,  keeping  different  parts  of  his 
body  as  near  to  the  fire  as  he  could  without 
burning  himself.  After  a  while  he  seemed 
to  think  that  this  was  not  satisfactory,  and 
so  he  steadied  himself  up  on  his  hind  legs, 
and  there,  like  a  great  dancing  bear,  he  kept 
jumping  around  before  the  fierce  fire,  turn- 
ing every  part  of  himself  to  the  bright, 
warm  flames. 

Under  the  power  of  the  fierce  heat,  the 
great  chunks  of  ice  speedily  melted  and  ran 
down  his  hind  legs  on  to  the  robe.  This 
water  bothered  him  at  first,  but  he  alertly 
moved  to  dryer  places,  keeping,  however, 
as  close  to  the  fire  as  possible.  From  the 


90          My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

other  side  of  the  fire,  the  Indians  and  my- 
self watched  his  marvellous  movements. 
To  say  that  we  laughed  until  we  cried,  is 
putting  it  very  mildly.  But  little  cared 
Jack  for  our  laughter.  It  was  serious  busi- 
ness with  him,  and  seriously  and  thor- 
oughly did  he  attend  to  it,  until  every  bit 
of  the  ice  was  melted,  and  all  that  cold 
water  was  dried  off  from  his  now  glossy 
coat.  During  all  the  time  he  had  been  at- 
tending to  this  work,  not  once  had  he  con- 
descended to  notice  any  one  of  us,  or  even 
apparently  to  look  at  us.  And  of  course  we 
were  so  pleased  to  see  him  so  able  to  do  the 
work  without  us  that  we  took  very  good 
care  not  to  bother  him  in  any  way.  When 
he  was  satisfied  himself,  that  he  was  all 
right,  we  speedily  harnessed  him  again  in 
his  place,  and  the  journey  was  resumed. 
Jack  was  none  the  worse  for  this  ducking, 
but  he  was  ever  afterward  a  little  cautious 
where  the  ice  seemed  insecure.  This  adven- 
ture, with  Jack's  marvellous  cleverness  in 
hopping  around  that  fire  in  the  woods  to 
melt  off  that  icy  coat  of  mail  and  so  thor- 
oughly dry  himself,  was  one  of  the  principal 
camp  fire  stories  among  the  Indians  for 
many  a  year. 


JUMPING  AROUND  THE  FIRE  LIKE 
A  DANCING  BEAR. 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  91 

The  frequent  changing  of  the  maids  in 
the  kitchen,  was  always  a  matter  of  per- 
plexity to  Jack.  The  dog  was  suspicious  of 
these  unknown  Indian  girls  coming  in, 
and  so  familiarly  handling  the  various 
utensils  of  their  work.  Six  months  was 
about  all  they  generally  remained  with  us, 
as  in  that  time  they  were,  if  not  before, 
married  off  to  ambitious  young  bachelor 
Indians,  who  were  always  most  anxious  to 
secure,  as  their  wives,  the  girls  who  had 
been  trained  by  the  missionary's  wife.  So 
Jack  had  to  be  warned  to  be  on  his  good 
behaviour  and  permit  these  new  comers  to 
have  the  freedom  of  the  house.  It  was  in- 
teresting to  see  how  he  at  first  watched 
them  and  speedily  found  out  where  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  have  some  quiet  fun  at 
their  expense.  If  a  girl  were  specially 
anxious  to  keep  the  doors  shut,  Jack  took 
great  delight  in  frequently  opening  them. 
This  he  would  persist  in  doing  until  com- 
plaints were  lodged  against  him  and  he  had 
to  be  well  scolded  for  his  conduct. 

One  summer  we  had  a  fat,  good-natured 
Indian  servant  girl,  whom  we  called  Mary. 
Jack,  at  first  could  not  find  any  way  by 
which  he  could  annoy  her.  She  treated  him 


92  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

with  absolute  indifference  and  was  not  in 
the  least  afraid  of  him.  This  seemed  to  hu- 
miliate him,  as  most  of  the  other  girls  had 
stood  in  such  awe  of  the  gigantic  fellow 
that  they  had  given  way  to  him  in  every- 
thing. Mary  however  did  nothing  of  the 
kind.  She  would  shout,  "  Get  out  of  my 
way ! "  as  quickly  to  his  mightiness  as  she 
would  to  the  smallest  dog  on  the  place. 
This  very  much  offended  Jack,  but  he  dared 
not  retaliate,  even  with  a  growl.  Mary  had 
one  weakness,  and  after  a  while  Jack  found 
it  out.  It  was  the  spotless  whiteness  of  her 
kitchen  floor.  Mrs.  Young  had  promised 
some  extra  reward  to  Mary,  if  she  kept  her 
kitchen  neat  and  clean.  So  anxious  was 
the  girl  to  win  this  gift,  as  well  as  the  ap- 
proval of  her  mistress,  that  it  seemed  as 
though  she  spent  all  the  time  she  could 
spare  from  other  duties  in  scrubbing  that 
kitchen  floor.  In  some  way,  utterly  beyond 
our  ken,  Jack  discovered  this,  and  perhaps 
humiliated  by  the  fact  that  Mary  had  come 
out  best  in  some  schemes  he  had  already 
tried,  he  seemed  to  take  the  greatest  delight 
in  either  marching  in  with  his  feet  as  dirty 
as  he  could  make  them,  or  with  his  great 
body  dripping  wet  from  a  plunge  in  the  lake. 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  93 

Of  course  the  clean  floor  was  quickly  ruined, 
much  to  Mary's  disgust  and  Jack's  delight. 

At  other  times,  when  Jack  noticed  that 
Mary  was  about  to  commence  scrubbing  the 
floor,  he  would  deliberately  stretch  himself 
out  on  it,  and  quietly  resist  any  attempt, 
on  her  part,  to  get  him  to  move.  In  vain 
would  she  feed  the  other  dogs,  or  by  loud 
calls  get  them  excited  and  barking  furiously 
outside.  Jack  had  been  fooled  once  or  twice 
in  this  way,  and  so  now  he  resisted  all  her 
schemes  to  make  him  move.  Once,  when 
she  did,  by  some  clever  trick,  get  him  out, 
she  fastened  the  door  so  securely  that  all 
his  rattling  of  the  latch  availed  him  nothing. 
Getting  discouraged  in  his  efforts  to  open 
the  door  in  the  usual  way,  he  went  to  the 
wood-pile,  and  seizing  a  big  billet  in  his 
mouth  he  came,  and  so  pounded  the  door 
with  it,  that  Mary,  seeing  that  there  was 
imminent  danger  of  the  panel  being  broken 
in,  was  obliged  to  open  the  door  and  let  him 
in. 

Jack  marched  proudly  in  with  the  stick 
of  wood  in  his  mouth.  When  he  had  de- 
posited it  in  the  wood-box,  he  coolly 
stretched  himself  out  on  the  spot  where  he 
would  be  the  biggest  nuisance.  Poor  Mary 


94  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

could  stand  it  no  longer.  Generally  she  had 
rather  enjoyed  pitting  her  wits  against  him 
and  had  made  but  few  complaints.  How- 
ever, this  trick  of  Jack's  in  pounding 
against  the  door  was  too  much  for  her  pa- 
tience, and  so  Mary,  leaving  the  big  fellow 
stretched  out  on  her  kitchen  floor,  marched 
into  my  study,  and  in  vigourous,  pictur- 
esque language,  in  her  native  Cree,  told  us 
of  the  tricks  and  schemes  of  that  Jack  to 
annoy  her  and  hinder  her  in  her  work.  Of 
course,  when  he  had  gone  thus  far,  he  must 
be  reproved  and  stopped.  In  doing  it  we 
used  Jack's  love  for  our  little  ones  to  ac- 
complish the  object.  Jack's  love  and  loyalty 
and  obedience  to  Sagastaookemou,  as  the 
Indians  loved  to  call  the  bright  little  four- 
year-old  boy  in  our  home,  was  thorough  and 
complete.  The  slightest  wish  of  the  little 
lad  was  law  to  Jack.  Here,  on  this  occasion, 
it  was  tested.  As  soon  as  Mary  had  finished 
her  complaints,  I  turned  to  the  little  fellow, 
who  was  busy  playing  with  some  toys,  and 
said  to  him,  "Eddy,  go  and  tell  that 
naughty  Jack  that  he  must  stop  teasing 
Mary.  Tell  him  his  place  is  not  in  the 
kitchen  and  that  he  must  keep  out  of  it." 
Eddy  had  listened  to  Mary's  story  and 


Jack,  and  Many  Things  Concerning  Him  95 

had  apparently  understood  it  well  enough 
to  feel  that  Jack  was  in  the  wrong,  and  so 
he  gallantly  came  to  the  rescue.  Away  he 
marched  with  Mary,  while  the  rest  of  us, 
now  interested  in  the  matter,  followed  in 
the  rear  to  see  how  the  thing  would  turn 
out.  While  we  remained  in  the  room  ad- 
joining the  kitchen,  and  out  of  sight  of  Jack, 
Eddy  and  Mary  went  on  into  the  kitchen, 
leaving  the  door  open  behind  them.  Thus 
we  distinctly  heard  what  the  boy  said. 
Marching  up  to  Jack,  where  he  was  still 
sprawled  out  on  the  floor,  and  speaking  with 
the  authority  of  a  king,  he  said  as  he  seized 
him  by  one  of  his  ears ;  "  I  am  ashamed  of 
you,  Jack.  You  naughty  dog,  teasing  Mary 
like  this.  So  you  won't  let  her  wash  her 
kitchen,  you  naughty  dog !  Get  up !  "  Jack 
at  once  obeyed  the  child  and  was  thus  led 
by  his  ear  into  the  study.  Here  the  child 
gave  him  another  lecture  on  the  naughtiness 
of  his  conduct,  ending  up  by  saying,  "  Now, 
Jack,  you  keep  out  of  the  kitchen."  And 
to  a  remarkable  degree  this  order  was 
obeyed. 


VI 

JACK  TRIUMPHANT  IN   THE   BLIZZAED 


I 


4C"§"'LL  never  see  my  mother  again  and 
you  will  never  see  your  wife  and  little 
"ones!" 

Such  was  the  pathetic  cry  of  a  fine  young 
Indian  lad  when  he  and  I  found  ourselves 
lost  in  a  blizzard  storm  out  on  Lake  Winni- 
peg, one  wild  fierce  wintry  day.  We  had 
started  away  from  our  home  several  days 
before  this,  on  a  winter  trip  of  several  hun- 
dreds of  miles.  We  were  each  driving  a 
splendid  train  of  dogs.  We  had  no  guide 
or  experienced  Indian  attendant.  It  was  a 
risky  experiment  we  were  making  but  I  did 
not  see  my  way  clear  to  do  otherwise. 

The  fact  was,  word  had  come  from  head- 
quarters that  there  would  be  no  appropria- 
tions for  trips  to  outside  pagan  Indians  that 
year.  That  meant  that  I  was  to  remain  at 
ease  in  my  quiet  little  cosy  home  and  con- 
fine my  work  and  toil  to  one  or  two  bands 
of  Indians,  all  of  whom  were  about  Chris- 
96 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard      97 

tianized,  while  the  poor  uncivilized  pagan 
wanderers  in  their  lonely  hunting  grounds, 
far  away  in  the  wilderness,  were  to  be  again 
left  neglected  and  forsaken.  This  I  could 
not  stand.  I  had  become  deeply  attached  to 
these  far-off  Indians,  whom  I  had  generally 
managed  to  visit  twice  a  year,  once  in  sum- 
mer in  my  canoe,  and  once  in  winter  with 
my  dog  trains.  So  grateful  had  they  been 
and  so  cordially  had  they  received  the  Gos- 
pel, that  I  resolved  that  as  far  as  it  was  in 
my  power  I  would  take  the  risks,  and  at  any 
sacrifice  keep  up  the  work.  So  this  was  the 
situation.  Without  any  experienced  guide 
for  no  money  had  come  for  the  pay  of  one, 
here  I  was  with  no  companion  but  a  young 
Indian,  and  we  two  caught  out  in  a  bliz- 
zard far  away  from  land  on  great  Lake 
Winnipeg. 

As  long  as  the  weather  had  kept  favour- 
able we  had  succeeded  in  making  good  prog- 
ress, and  began  to  think  that  we  were  pretty 
good  travellers.  We  struck  the  different 
headlands,  and  succeeded  in  reaching  well- 
known  camping  spots.  There  being  only 
the  two  of  us,  the  work  of  preparing  the 
winter  camp  and  cutting  sufficient  wood  for 
the  necessary  fuel,  together  with  all  the 


98  My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

other  camp  labours,  made  it  very  hard  on 
us.  However  we  were  both  enthusiastic 
over  our  work,  and  so  we  persevered  and 
did  not  fare  so  badly.  We  each  had  a  train 
of  splendid  dogs.  With  the  exception  of  the 
leader  of  my  train,  all  of  our  dogs  were  St. 
Bernards  or  Newfoundlands.  This  leader 
of  my  train  was  called  Koona,  which  is  the 
Indian  name  for  flour.  He  was  well  named, 
for  he  was  white  as  the  driven  snow.  He 
was  well  trained  and  did  not  require  a  run- 
ner ahead  of  him,  as  many  dogs  do.  He 
thoroughly  understood  the  meanings  of  the 
different  words  used  in  dog  driving  and 
would  as  promptly  respond  to  them  as  a 
well  trained  horse  answers  to  the  rein.  He 
had  been  so  severely  punished  during  his 
breaking  in  that  he  was  timid  about  acting 
on  his  own  responsibility. 

As  our  supply  of  wood  had  been  rather 
limited  we  started  one  morning  very  early, 
on  what  we  had  hoped  would  have  been  a 
successful  day's  run  of  about  sixty  miles. 
Our  camp,  which  had  been  only  a  hole  dug 
in  the  snow,  had  been  far  from  comfortable, 
and  so  we  were  not  very  sorry  to  be  once 
more  on  the  way.  For  a  time,  first  by  star- 
light and  then  by  the  light  of  a  brilliant 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard      99 

morning,  we  sped  on  towards  the  north.  To 
shorten  the  journey  we  had  struck  far  out  in 
the  great  lake,  but  not  so  far  but  that  we 
could  still  keep  the  headlands  of  the  great 
points  in  sight  for  our  guidance. 

During  the  last  night  there  had  been  quite 
a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  It  somewhat  impeded 
our  rapid  progress  but  our  dogs  were  good 
and  as  long  as  there  was  no  wind  to  lift  up 
this  light  snow  we  did  not  much  mind  it. 
It  was  a  bitterly  cold  day,  but  we  had  so 
arranged  our  loads  on  our  sleds  that  we 
could  easily  jump  off  and  run  until  the  vig- 
ourous  exercise  so  warmed  us  that  we  much 
enjoyed  the  subsequent  ride.  Thus  on  we 
sped  until  many  miles  were  between  us  and 
our  camp  of  the  previous  night.  As  we 
journeyed  on,  the  wind  in  fitful  gusts  began 
to  blow  around  us.  At  first  it  was  not 
alarming  and  we  did  not  mind  it.  Even 
when  we  lost  sight  of  the  distant  headlands, 
as  they  were  swallowed  up  in  the  haze,  we 
foolishly  pushed  on,  instead  of  at  once  dash- 
ing at  full  speed,  as  we  ought  to  have  done, 
for  the  shore.  The  fitful  gusts  of  an  hour 
before  were  now  increased  to  a  wild  gale 
which  lifted  up  the  light  snow,  and  soon 
the  air  was  full  of  it.  Still,  as  the  wind  con- 


ioo        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

tinued  up  to  this  time  to  blow  steadily  in 
one  direction,  which  was  from  the  north, 
we  bravely  pushed  on  in  the  very  teeth  of  it. 

"  Fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to 
tread."  If  we  had  had  an  experienced  guide 
along  with  us  he  would  have  had  us  safely 
ensconced  in  the  shelter  of  the  woods  on  the 
shore.  Instead  of  that,  here  we  two  green- 
horns, as  the  Indians  afterwards  called  us, 
were  out  many  miles  from  the  shore  fool- 
ishly battling  against  what  had  now  become 
a  howling,  furious  blizzard.  We  stopped 
long  enough  for  me  to  tie  the  tail-rope  of 
my  sled  to  the  collar  of  the  leader  dog  of 
Alec's  train.  This  was  done  as  a  precau- 
tionary measure,  so  that  we  might  not  get 
separated  from  each  other  in  the  now  blind- 
ing gale.  Then,  shouting  to  our  dogs,  we 
resumed  our  journey  as  best  we  could. 
Bravely  did  the  noble  fellows  continue  to 
push  on  in  the  teeth  of  the  storm,  that  no 
living  horse  would  have  faced. 

As  long  as  the  wind  had,  as  we  thought, 
remained  steadily  blowing  from  the  one 
quarter,  we  had  kept  up  our  courage.  We 
knew  that  we  were  going  in  the  right  direc- 
tion when  we  had  our  last  glimpses  of  the 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     101 

distant  point,  and  since  that  time  we  had 
been  trusting  the  wind.  Now,  as  in  the 
eddying  gusts  the  wind  began  whirling 
around  us,  coming  apparently  from  every 
quarter,  we  were  most  emphatically  brought 
to  realize  that  in  all  probability  we  had  been 
running  in  a  very  erratic  course,  for  the  last 
two  or  three  hours  at  least. 

Utterly  bewildered,  I  stopped  my  dogs, 
and  as  Alec's  train  came  up  near  I  shouted 
to  the  lad : 

"  Alec,  I  am  afraid  we  are  lost." 

"  Yes,  we  are  surely  lost,"  was  his  not 
very  comforting  reply. 

"  It  is  a  blizzard,  and  that  is  where  we 
have  blundered,"  I  said,  "  in  allowing  our- 
selves to  be  caught  in  it  and  we  so  far  from 
shore." 

At  the  mention  of  blizzard,  so  dreaded  by 
those  who  know  them  best,  Alec  at  once  lost 
heart,  and  by  the  utterance  of  the  words  I 
have  already  quoted,  and  others  in  a  similar 
strain,  showed  that  he  was  well  aware  of 
our  great  danger. 

We  were,  however,  resolved  not  to  give  up 
without  a  struggle.  So  the  question  was; 
What  had  best  be  done?  That  is  always  an- 


102         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

swered  in  that  land  where  the  bitter  cold 
demands  so  much  internal  fuel,  by,  "  Let  us 
have  something  to  eat." 

So  we  opened  a  pemmican  bag,  and  in  the 
mouth  of  it  we  chopped  into  eatable  pieces, 
some  of  the  hard  and  tasteless,  but  exceed- 
ingly nutritious,  food.  We  would  have 
much  enjoyed  a  few  good  cups  of  tea,  with 
the  hard  dry  stuff,  but  that  was  out  of  the 
question  in  such  a  place.  We  ate  our  meal 
as  well  as  we  could,  liberally  sharing  the 
tough,  hard  food  with  our  dogs,  that  had 
cuddled  as  close  to  us  as  their  harness  would 
allow.  Jack,  as  usual,  had  the  place  nearest 
to  me.  This  was  his  habit  whenever  it  was 
possible.  Not  that  he  always  expected  to 
be  fed,  for  as  a  general  thing  the  dogs  were 
given  only  one  meal  a  day,  and  that  one  was 
at  the  night  camp,  when  the  day's  work  was 
done.  However,  to-day  was  an  exception. 
The  fact  was  it  looked  as  if  we  had  seen  our 
last  winter  camp,  and  the  blizzard  storm 
would  soon  claim  us  as  its  victims.  So  we 
said,  "  We  will  share  our  pemmican  with 
our  splendid  dogs,  for  poor  indeed  is  the 
prospect  for  either  their  or  our  having  an- 
other meal." 

As  Jack  and  I  took  alternate  bites  at  the 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     103 

tough  pemmican,  his  being  considerably 
larger  than  mine,  I  put  my  arm  around  his 
big  neck,  and  had  a  good  talk  with  him.  I 
am  a  firm  believer  in  the  idea  that  dogs 
understand  a  great  deal  more  than  most 
people  generally  believe.  And  Jack  was  one 
that,  having  long  been  with  me,  knew,  as  I 
had  often  tested,  almost  everything  that  was 
said  to  him.  He  also  well  knew  when  he 
was  the  subject  of  our  conversation  at  home, 
and  was  well  pleased  or  hurt,  as  we  spoke 
complimentarily  or  disparagingly  about 
him. 

So  now,  out  there  with  the  howling  winds 
raging  around  us  like  savage  beasts  eager 
for  their  prey,  we  two,  with  Alec  for  a  lis- 
tener, had  a  candid  talk  about  our  distress- 
ing situation.  I  began  by  telling  him  that 
we  were  lost,  and  that  the  chances  were 
against  our  getting  safely  out  of  this  fear- 
ful storm.  This  did  not  seem  to  disturb 
him,  so  I  said,  "  Jack,  my  noble  fellow,  do 
you  know  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  we 
shall  ever  see  our  home  again?  The  pros- 
pect is  that  the  snow  will  soon  be  our  wind- 
ing-sheet, and  that  loving  eyes  will  look  out 
in  vain  for  our  return.  The  chances,  Jack, 
are  that  you  will  never  again  stretch  your- 


IO4        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

self  out  on  your  favourite  resting-place  on 
the  wolf  skin  before  the  study  fire.  Rouse 
yourself,  old  dog  and  do  your  best,  for  in 
your  intelligence  we  are  going  to  trust  to 
get  us  out  of  this  wild  blizzard,  and  to  lead 
us  to  a  place  of  safety." 

Thus,  with  my  face,  although  it  was  half 
covered  with  ice  and  snow,  close  to  his,  I 
talked  to  Jack  as  a  man  would  to  a  friend. 
His  answer  he  gave  in  a  kiss  or  two  on  my 
face,  and  in  deeds  that  were  simply  mar- 
vellous. 

The  few  arrangements  necessary  for  the 
race  for  life,  against  such  fearful  odds, 
were  soon  made.  In  a  rabbit-skin  blanket, 
which  when  rightly  made  is,  for  its  weight, 
the  warmest  robe  ever  worn,  I  carefully 
wrapped  up  Alec,  and  as  comfortably  and 
as  securely  as  possible  I  fastened  him  on 
his  dog  sled.  As  before  mentioned,  our 
trains  were  so  fastened  together  that  we 
could  not  get  separated.  Straightening  out 
the  dogs,  that  had  during  the  halt  huddled 
at  our  feet,  I  wrapped  myself  as  warmly  as 
I  could.  I  then  so  seated  myself  on  my 
sled,  that  I  was  able  to  tie  myself  on  so 
firmly  that  even  if  I  became  unconscious 
from  the  cold  I  could  not  fall  off. 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     105 

The  leader,  as  we  have  said,  was  Koona, 
He  was  a  wise  and  intelligent  leader  under 
ordinary  conditions  of  travel,  but  in  the 
blinding  storms,  he  seemed  to  lose  confi- 
dence in  himself  and  expected  to  be  guided 
by  the  cheery  voice  of  his  driver.  So  it  was 
on  this  trying  occasion.  When  I  shouted, 
"Marche,"  the  Indian  word  for  "Go," 
Koona  only  turned  towards  me  and  by  his 
bewildered  look  seemed  to  say.  "  Which 
way,  Master?  "  I  was  just  as  much  at  sea 
as  he  was  and,  up  to  that  moment  had 
hoped  that  the  superior  intelligence  of  this 
leader  dog,  would  get  us  out  of  our  diffi- 
culty. But  it  was  evident  that  he  was  go- 
ing to  throw  the  responsibility  upon  me, 
and  this  was  what  I  had  no  more  desire  to 
assume  than  had  the  dog.  So  once  again  I 
shouted,  "Marche!" 

Still  there  was  no  sign  of  his  starting, 
but  if  possible  a  more  anxious  look  into  my 
face  and  an  eager  waiting  for  the  Indian 
word,  "Chaw,"  or  "  Yee,"  ("Right"  or 
"Left").  I  was  now  so  completely  bewil- 
dered by  the  fierce  whirling  blizzard  that  I 
had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  any  of  the 
points  of  the  compass.  The  cold  was  ter- 
rible and  of  course  we  could  not  stay  there. 


io6        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

On  we  must  go  somewhere,  and  so  in  sheer 
desperation  I  shouted  out  to  Jack,  as  he 
was  the  second  dog  in  the  train.  Eager 
and  alert  to  start  he  had  been,  from  the 
first  word  shouted  to  Koona,  but  like  a  well 
trained  dog  he  knew  his  place,  and  that  he 
was  expected  to  follow  his  leader.  He  had, 
however,  been  showing  a  good  deal  of  im- 
patience at  the  hesitancy  of  Koona,  and  so 
now  I  saw  that  he  was  ready  for  any  call 
that  might  be  made  upon  him.  So  I 
shouted,  "  Go  on,  Jack,  whichever  way  you 
like,  and  do  the  best  you  can,  for  I  do  not 
know  anything  about  it !  " 

Nothing  more  was  necessary.  The  noble 
dog  at  once  seemed  to  realize  that  on  him 
rested  the  responsibility  of  rescuing  us 
from  our  perilous  position.  And  grandly 
did  he  perform  the  tremendous  task,  as 
with  one  of  his  cheery  barks  he  sprang 
forward  in  the  tempest,  Koona,  with  slack- 
ened traces,  gladly  dropped  back,  and  was 
quite  content  to  resign  the  leadership  to  the 
more  powerful  dog.  During  the  long  run 
that  followed,  never  once  did  the  bewildered 
dog  seem  to  wish,  as  many  a  dog  does, 
to  again  take  his  position  as  leader.  Koona 
seemed  to  have  had  enough  dog  sense  to 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     107 

know  that  Jack,  in  this  trying  ordeal,  could 
do  better  work  than  he,  and  so  he  ran  be- 
side the  larger  dog  and  at  times  cleverly 
availed  himself  of  the  protection  thus  af- 
forded to  shield  himself  from  some  of  the 
fiercest  blasts  of  the  storm. 

So  thoroughly  was  the  blizzard  lifting 
the  snow  from  the  ice,  that  we  were  able 
to  travel  with  a  good  degree  of  speed. 
Hours  succeeded  hours,  and  still  the  storm 
shrieked  and  howled  around  us.  With  un- 
diminished  vigour  Jack  kept  to  his  work. 
Occasionally  I  would  shout  out  to  him  some 
cheery  word,  and  back  through  the  gale 
would  come  his  well-known  bark.  It  had 
in  it  the  ring  of  victory,  and  strangely  kept 
up  our  spirits  and  hopefulness,  and  the  as- 
surance that  we  were  yet  going  to  escape 
this  peril,  although  we  could  but  be  con- 
scious of  the  fact  that  we  were  indeed  in 
very  great  danger  of  perishing.  The  cold 
was  now  so  gripping  us  that  it  seemed  as 
though  we  must  freeze  to  death.  The  very 
necessary  precaution  of  tying  ourselves  on 
our  sleds  made  it  impossible  for  us  to  spring 
off  and  run,  as  we  frequently  did  under  or- 
dinary circumstances.  So  all  there  was  for 
us  to  do  was  to  just  endure  it  and  hope  for 


io8         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  best.  As  I  was  very  anxious  about  the 
welfare  of  my  Indian  comrade,  and  resolved 
to  keep  him  from  falling  into  that  strange 
langour  that  precedes  death  by  freezing,  I 
frequently  shouted  out  to  him  to  keep 
awake.  Oh  how  weary  and  unpleasant 
seemed  the  hours  as  they  slowly  followed 
each  other,  each  succeeding  one  appearing 
to  bring  us  no  nearer  to  rescue  or  deliver- 
ance! 

From  about  midday  this  trial  of  endur- 
ance had  continued.  Now  to  add  to  our 
wretchedness,  the  darkness  of  night  began 
to  surround  us.  This  not  only  increased 
our  discomfort,  but  added  very  much  to  our 
danger.  It  was  bad  enough  when  we  could 
see,  even  if  our  vision  was  very  much  limited 
by  the  storm,  that  swirled  and  eddied 
around  us,  but  now  to  be  shrouded  in  the 
dense  darkness,  out  on  a  great  lake,  nearly 
three  hundred  miles  long  and  from  forty  to 
seventy  wide  in  this  part,  where  the  storm 
struck  us,  was  indeed  no  enviable  position 
to  occupy.  But  we  did  not  lose  hope. 
There  were  several  things  in  our  favour. 
Our  dogs  under  the  marvellous  leadership 
of  Jack,  seemed  to  have  caught  his  enthu- 
siastic, indomitable  spirit,  and  so,  hour 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     109 

after  hour,  were  gallantly  pressing  on 
through  the  storm  as  though  they  saw  in 
the  distance  the  welcome  camp  fire,  and 
scented  their  supper  of  white  fish  thawed 
out  for  them  before  the  blazing  flame. 

So  there  was  no  need  of  losing  heart  while 
the  dogs  were  setting  us  such  an  example 
of  confidence  and  courage.  Then  we  were 
both  young  and  strong,  and  had  with  us 
our  camp  outfit  of  robes  and  blankets,  and 
if  our  dogs  became  rattled  or  discouraged 
we  might  spread  out  these  robes  and  blank- 
ets, and  getting  under  them,  with  our  dogs 
huddled  around  and  partly  on  us,  we  could 
at  least  try  to  keep  alive  during  the  night. 
So  trusting  in  a  loving  Providence,  who  had 
more  than  once  before  marvellously  opened 
up  our  way,  we  resolved  in  quiet  restful- 
ness  of  spirit  to  make  no  change  as  long  as 
Jack,  the  glorious  fellow,  kept  pushing  on 
with  such  confidence  and  courage.  From 
my  knowledge  of  dogs,  I  decided  that  he  was 
confident  of  his  course,  or  he  never  would 
have  continued  on  at  such  a  rate,  and  so 
inspiring  all  the  other  dogs  with  confidence 
and  assurance — save  Koona.  So  with  the 
exception  of  the  occasional  cheery  calls  to 
Jack,  to  which  he  always  responded,  and 


no        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  warning  cries  to  my  young  Indian  com- 
rade not  to  go  to  sleep  in  spite  of  the  bitter 
cold,  I  managed  to  keep,  or  was  kept,  in  a 
comfortable  state  of  mind  without  anxiety 
or  fear. 

Thus  on  we  were  whirled  over  the  great 
frozen  lake,  where,  we  knew  not.  But  it 
was  evident  that  if  the  dogs  could  keep  up 
such  a  rapid  gait  they  would  certainly  in 
time,  bring  us  out  somewhere,  and  so  we 
resolved  that  we  would  try  and  keep  from 
freezing,  or  even  going  to  sleep,  for  under 
such  conditions  sleep  might  mean  death 
without  waking. 

It  was  perhaps  three  hours  after  dark, 
when  I  was  agreeably  startled  by  the  fact 
that  the  dogs  had  detected  something  and 
were  much  excited  by  the  discovery.  It  was 
a  long  time  since  I  had  been  able  to  see 
them,  owing  to  the  darkness  of  the  night 
and  the  density  of  the  storm,  but  it  did  not 
require  a  view  of  them  to  tell  one  accus- 
tomed to  dogs  that  they  had  suddenly  be- 
come possessed  of  some  knowledge  that 
their  drivers  knew  not  of.  At  first  I  was 
inclined  to  think  that  perhaps  some  roam- 
ing wild  beast  had  become  bewildered  in  the 
blizzard,  and  was  near  us,  far  out  on  the 


Jack  Triumphant  in  the  Blizzard     1 1 1 

great  lake,  and  that  the  scent  of  it  had  only 
excited  the  hunting  instincts  of  my  dogs. 
However,  there  was  but  little  time  or  chance 
for  theorizing,  or  any  thing  else,  except  to 
hang  on  to  the  sleds  and  exercise  all  the 
skill  possible  to  keep  them  from  capsizing, 
as  the  now  thoroughly  excited  dogs  madly 
dashed  along.  Such  a  burst  of  speed  could 
not  last  very  long,  nor  was  it  necessary,  for 
in  a  short  time  they  gave  us  a  very  tangible 
evidence  of  the  correctness  of  their  keenness 
of  scent,  and  noble  Jack  won  all  honours 
possible,  as  the  peerless  leader. 

The  fellow  had,  after  a  run  of  sixty  OP 
seventy  miles  in  the  teeth  of  a  first-class 
blizzard,  with  the  temperature  anywhere 
from  thirty  to  fifty  below  zero,  gallantly  led 
the  way  to  the  icy  accumulations  cut  out, 
and  piled  up  day  by  day,  by  a  number  of 
Indian  families  who,  living  on  the  shore, 
come  out  here  for  their  daily  supply  of 
water.  As  for  months  these  Indians  had 
been  here  cutting  out  the  ice  that  froze  each 
night,  there  was  quite  a  large  pile  of  it. 
Squarely  did  Jack  strike  that  pile,  and  gal- 
lantly aided  by  the  dogs  behind  he  scaled 
its  jagged  sides  and,  before  I  fully  realized 
what  it  was,  we  were  in  a  pellmell  sort  of 


H2         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

a  style  tumbling  down  on  the  other  side. 
Fortunately  we  did  not  fall  in  the  open 
water-hole,  but  struck  finely  the  beaten 
trail  that  led  up  in  the  forest  to  the  wig- 
wams of  the  Indians.  Over  it  the  dogs 
fairly  flew.  Soon  we  knew  we  were  being 
pulled  up  the  steep  side  of  a  bluff  and  in  a 
few  minutes  more  as  we  were  being  hurled 
along  the  smooth  but  crooked  trail,  we  saw 
the  welcome  sparks  flying  out  of  the  top  of 
the  birch-bark  wigwams.  A  blessed  sight 
indeed  was  this,  for  we  were  safe  at  last; 
and  can  any  one  blame  me  if,  after  our 
notes  of  thanksgiving  to  a  kind  Providence, 
we  shouted  out : 
"Well  done,  Jack!" 


VII 

JACK  IN  CIVILIZATION 

WITH  the  most  profound  regret  we 
left  those  Northern  fields  on  ac- 
count of  severe  and  protracted  ill- 
ness in  the  household,  which  made  it  im- 
perative   that    we    should    go    to    a   more 
temperate  climate,  if  the  valuable  life  that 
was  threatened  was  to  be  preserved. 

We  transferred  the  work  and  all  that  be- 
longed to  it  to  our  honoured  successor,  in- 
cluding all  the  dogs,  with  the  exception  of 
Jack.  Mrs.  Young  and  the  children  pleaded 
that  Cuffy  should  also  be  allowed  to  come, 
but  the  expense  would  have  been  so  much 
the  greater,  and  the  energetic  missionary 
there  continuing  the  work  was  very  fond  of 
her  and  much  needed  her  in  his  rearranged 
train. 

Without  any  very  startling  incidents,  we 
reached    Toronto   and,    shortly   after   pro- 
ceeded to  a  pretty  little  town  called  Port 
113 


1 14         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Perry,  where  we  settled  down  in  our  new 
home. 

Jack  accepted  the  new  surroundings  as 
though  he  had  been  accustomed  to  them  all 
his  days.  He  speedily  attracted  great  at- 
tention and  was  admired  and  petted  by  all 
classes  of  people.  He  was  "  borrowed  "  by 
clergymen,  doctors,  merchants,  farmers  and 
others,  to  show  to  their  friends.  Sometimes 
he  would  be  away  on  these  visits  for  days, 
but  he  would  never  remain  away  beyond  a 
certain  length  of  time.  When  Jack  thought 
it  was  time  for  him  to  go  home  nothing 
would  stop  him.  A  big  farmer,  wishing  to 
keep  him  longer  than  he  desired  to  remain, 
undertook  to  tie  him.  He  soon  gave  up  that 
job. 

Speaking  about  it  after,  he  said :  "  I 
might  as  well  have  tried  to  tie  up  a  tiger." 

Jack  speedily  made  himself  useful  in  our 
pretty  parsonage  home.  One  of  his  duties 
was  to  go  to  the  butcher's  for  meat,  as  re- 
quired in  the  household.  A  basket  with  a 
good  cover  and  strong  handle  was  specially 
purchased  for  his  use.  A  clean  towel  and 
an  envelope,  in  which  was  money  and  direc- 
tions for  the  butcher,  were  placed  inside, 
and  then  the  whole  was  given  to  the  eager 


Jack  in  Civilization  115 

dog  and  he  was  sent  on  his  errand.  He 
wasted  no  time  on  the  road.  When  he 
reached  the  shop,  he  would  allow  no  man 
but  the  butcher  himself,  or  some  assistant 
he  pointed  out,  to  take  the  basket.  When 
his  basket  was  loaded  for  him,  he  carefully 
and  quickly  returned  home  with  it.  Fre- 
quently the  butcher  would  be  requested  to 
put  a  piece  of  meat  in  for  Jack,  and  to  show 
it  to  him  and  to  tell  him  that  special  piece 
was  for  him. 

He  came  home  proudly  with  his  load,  and 
always  expected  that  some  member  of  the 
family  would  give  him  cheery  words.  He 
dearly  loved  a — "  Thank  you,  Jack.  You 
noble  dog,  you  have  done  well ! " 

Indeed,  he  ever  had  a  weakness  for  com- 
pliments. How  singular,  and  so  exclusively 
confined  to  dogs! 

Any  member  of  the  family  could  unpack 
the  basket,  and  if  it  were  thought  that  Jack 
did  not  then  need  the  piece  of  meat  put  in 
for  him,  he  made  not  the  slightest  objection 
to  seeing  his  piece  put  away  where  his  food 
was  generally  kept. 

But  sometimes,  to  entertain  some  inter- 
ested guests,  Mrs.  Young  would  say  to  him, 
knowing  that  there  was  a  piece  for  him  in 


i.i 6         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  basket,  "  Jack,  I  don't  want  to  be  both- 
ered with  you  and  your  basket!  Take  it 
out  to  Maggie  in  the  kitchen,  and  let  her 
empty  it." 

Jack  of  course  obeyed.  But  see  what  a 
change  at  once  comes  over  him.  He  carries 
his  precious  load  out  into  the  kitchen  and 
sets  it  down  at  Maggie's  feet,  and  there  he 
stands  like  an  alert  sentinel.  Maggie,  as 
might  be  expected,  reaches  down  to  take  it 
up,  but  a  roar  from  the  big  dog,  causes  her 
to  drop  it  in  a  hurry. 

"  Take  the  cover  off  the  basket  where  it 
is ! "  To  this  request  the  girl  is  naturally 
at  first  a  little  loth  to  comply  but,  being 
reassured,  she  does  so,  and  meets  with  no 
opposition  from  the  dog  while  taking  off  the 
cover.  Then  as  Jack's  piece  of  meat  is  there 
on  top,  the  girl  naturally  attempts  to  re- 
move it,  that  she  may  get  out  the  well-wrap- 
ped-up  piece  that  is  beneath.  But  to  this 
procedure  Jack  most  decidedly  objects.  All 
he  will  allow  her  to  do  is  to  get  the  wrapped- 
up  piece  out,  without  taking  his  out  of  the 
basket.  He  never  would  allow  a  servant  to 
remove  his  meat,  neither  would  he  take  it 
out  himself  until  the  family  piece  was  re- 
moved, then  he  would  carry  the  basket  with 


Jack  in  Civilization  117 

his  piece  in  it,  out  among  the  trees,  and 
there  he  would  take  it  out  himself,  and 
leisurely  eat  it,  or  cache  it  away  until 
needed. 

In  the  numerous  invitations  which  were 
continually  being  received  for  lectures  and 
addresses,  there  was  the  constant  request: 
"  Be  sure  and  bring  Jack ! "  The  result 
was,  that  as  I  travelled  up  and  down 
throughout  the  Provinces  of  Ontario  and 
Quebec,  Jack  was  as  well  known  to  thou- 
sands as  was  his  master.  In  the  large  halls 
and  lecture  rooms,  as  well  as  in  many  of  the 
largest  churches,  Jack,  the  famous  mission- 
ary dog,  was  ever  a  welcome  visitor.  At 
Sunday-school  picnics  and  other  gatherings 
of  the  children,  Jack  was  the  hero  of  the 
hour,  and  many  of  the  little  ones  hugely 
enjoyed  the  ride  upon  his  back.  Then,  when 
the  speakers  assembled  on  the  platform,  and 
the  music  and  speaking  began,  Jack  had  an 
honourable  place  among  the  parsons  and 
others  of  that  class,  and  none  who  knew  of 
him  and  his  work  ever  thought  of  disputing 
his  right  to  his  place  among  those  most 
highly  honoured. 

The  following  is  a  good  illustration  of 
Jack's  popularity  with  even  the  highest 


1 1 8         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

classes  in  the  land.  I  was  walking  one  day 
along  a  well  filled  street  in  a  capital  city 
of  one  of  our  Canadian  Provinces  with  Jack 
at  my  heels.  Suddenly  I  heard  my  name 
being  shouted  out  most  energetically: 

"  Mr.  Young !    Mr.  Young !  " 

At  first  I  could  not  make  out  whence  the 
calling  proceeded.  Soon  however,  as  it  was 
accompanied  by  the  waving  of  a  red  silk 
parasol,  I  perceived  it  was  from  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Governor  of  the  Province,  sitting 
in  a  splendid  carriage. 

Lifting  my  hat,  I  responded  to  her  calls, 
for  we  had  met  before,  and  she  said : 

"  The  Judges  are  coming  to  dine  at  the 
Government  House  to-morrow.  Please 
bring  Jack  up  to  dinner,  and  come  your- 
self!" 

Of  course  we  went,  Jack  and  I.  And  we 
dined  with  the  Governor  and  his  family  and 
the  Judges.  And  everybody  made  a  great 
fuss  over  Jack. 

On  the  railroads  Jack  became  a  great  fa- 
vourite with  the  trainmen.  His  place,  on  a 
journey,  was  always  with  the  baggage  men, 
and  he  and  they  had  some  lively  but  good- 
natured  romps.  When  I  started  off  with 
him  on  a  railway  journey,  I  always  took 


Jack  in  Civilization  119 

him  to  the  baggage  car  and  there  left  him, 
with  orders  there  to  remain  until  we 
reached  our  stopping  place,  and  then  I 
would  come  for  him.  So  good  was  he  that 
he  was  never  tied  up  in  the  car.  He  well 
knew  what  was  expected  of  him  and  cheer- 
fully obeyed.  At  the  different  stations 
where  the  train  stopped  to  let  off  or  take 
on  passengers  and  baggage,  Jack  would  fre- 
quently jump  out  on  the  platform  while  the 
baggage  men  were  busy  with  the  trunks  or 
other  luggage.  But  he  never  got  left.  In 
some  way  or  other,  he  seemed  to  know  when 
it  was  his  duty  to  spring  in  the  car  again. 
He  was  very  obedient  to  my  orders  to  wait 
at  the  baggage  car  until  I  would  come  for 
him.  This  he  always  did,  with  one  notable 
exception.  Then  he  disobeyed  orders  most 
decidedly.  But  before  you  court-martial 
him,  or  even  censure  him,  listen  to  the  story, 
and  then  see  if  you  would  have  found  Jack 
guilty. 

Mrs.  Young  and  I,  with  Jack,  were  com- 
ing up  from  Trenton  to  Toronto  on  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway.  Jack  as  usual  was 
put  in  the  large  baggage  car,  with  orders  to 
remain  there  until  I  came  for  him.  Mrs. 
Young  and  I  were  in  the  last  car  of  the 


I2O        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

train.  We  had  hardly  been  travelling  more 
than  an  hour,  when  some  obstruction — if 
we  remember  correctly,  it  was  a  misplaced 
switch  on  the  track — threw  our  engine  and 
all  of  the  cars  following,  off  the  track.  The 
baggage  car,  which  as  usual  was  next  to  the 
engine,  turned  sideways  and  thus  went 
down  a  small  embankment.  This  erratic 
movement  caused  the  sliding  door  in  the 
lower  side  of  the  car  to  speedily  fly  open. 
The  instant  the  door  thus  opened  Jack 
sprang  out  (so  we  were  afterwards  told). 
He  struck  the  ground  before  the  car  had 
ceased  moving  and  rolled  over  in  the  dirt, 
but  quickly  rose  up  unhurt,  and  disap- 
peared from  the  view  of  the  baggage  men. 
Such  was  the  speed  with  which  we  were  go- 
ing when  the  accident  occurred  that  the  car 
in  which  Mrs.  Young  and  I  were  sitting  was 
shot  or  broken  almost  completely  off  its  run- 
ning gear.  Fortunately  nobody  in  our  car 
was  hurt. 

We,  of  course,  all  sprang  at  once  to  our 
feet  and  rushed  for  the  door.  We  were 
thankful  to  find  that  it  had  not  jammed, 
and  so  we  were  able  to  get  out  very  quickly. 
As  our  seat  had  been  very  near  the  door, 


Jack  in  Civilization  121 

we  were  about  the  first  to  rush  out  We 
were  excited  by  the  cries  of  those  injured  or 
confined  in  the  cars  in  front,  and  were 
anxious  to  help.  But  before  I  had  run  many 
yards,  there  was  Jack  coming  with  all  the 
speed  imaginable.  The  instant  he  recog- 
nized me  he  gave  a  howl  of  delight,  and 
fairly  springing  upon  me,  he  threw  his  great 
fore-paws  around  my  neck  and  held  me  with 
a  grip  like  a  bear,  while  he  kissed  me  re- 
peatedly in  dog  fashion  and  again  howled 
out  his  joy  that  I  had  escaped  injury. 

When  I  could  get  him  down  and  quiet  his 
delight  a  little,  he  happened  to  see  Mrs. 
Young,  and  away  he  rushed  for  her,  and 
again  we  had  an  exhibition  of  his  delight 
that  we  had  both  fortunately  escaped  with- 
out injury.  His  remarkable  conduct  on  this 
occasion  attracted  much  attention  from  a 
number  of  people,  and  there  was  much  dis- 
cussion and  speculation  afterwards  about 
Jack's  actions  on  that  day.  These  are  the 
facts  as  they  occurred,  and  they  are  worthy 
of  study. 

We  had  Jack  with  us  only  a  couple  of 
years  before  he  died,  and  that  was  from  a 
sad  wound  inflicted  upon  him  by;  some  re- 


122        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

vengeful  gipsies.  The  cause  of  this  ven- 
geance and  Jack's  premature  death,  was 
this: 

One  day,  when  Jack  was  returning  home 
from  the  butcher's  shop  with  a  well-filled 
basket,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  fierce 
white  bull-dog  belonging  to  these  gipsies. 
'Jack,  faithful  to  his  trust,  while  still  hold- 
ing on  to  his  basket,  managed  to  shake  off 
the  treacherous  brute  that  had  so  assailed 
him  when  thus  encumbered  with  his  load. 
He  succeeded  in  getting  home  with  his 
basket,  but  the  minute  it  was  safely  deliv- 
ered, Jack  was  off  like  a  shot.  I  was  aston- 
ished to  see  the  ease  with  which  he  sprang 
over  the  front  gate,  and  his  sudden  disap- 
pearance down  the  street.  He  was  not  long 
in  reaching  the  encampment  of  these  gipsies. 
The  bulldog,  the  object  of  his  ire,  was  now 
ensconced  in  the  yard,  but  Jack  speedily 
sprang  over  the  gate  and  quickly  seized  him, 
and  although  his  owners  had  boasted  of  his 
terrible  fighting  powers,  he  was  no  match 
for  the  insulted  and  indignant  Jack. 

Those  who  saw  the  fight  or  punishment, 
said  that  after  the  first  minute  or  so  Jack 
was  so  completely  the  master  that  he 
literally  shook  that  big  bulldog  as  a  trained 


Jack  in  Civilization  123 

terrier  does  a  rat.  Then  when  he  threw  him 
down,  the  thrashed  dog  was  so  cowed  that 
he  lay  flat  on  the  ground.  Jack  walked 
around  him  several  times,  uttering  a  few 
ominous  growls,  which  doubtless  were 
words  of  advice  to  the  miserable  fellow  to 
behave  himself  in  future.  Then  turning  to- 
wards the  gate,  Jack  sprang  over  it  with  the 
agility  of  a  greyhound  and  leisurely 
marched  home.  But  he  was  ruffled  in  spirits 
and  out  of  sorts  all  day. 

Of  course  the  revengeful  gipsies  could  not 
forgive  this  thrashing,  and  the  humiliation 
to  which  their  great  fighter  had  been  obliged 
to  submit.  For  months  they  tried  in  various 
ways  to  injure  or  kill  Jack,  and  at  length 
they  succeeded  in  inflicting  a  grievous 
wound  in  one  of  his  shoulders.  We  had 
done  for  him  all  that  skilled  veterinary  sur- 
geons could  do,  but  their  efforts  were  in 
vain.  One  trouble  was,  the  wound  could 
not  be  reached  by  Jack's  tongue,  which  is 
Nature's  great  plan  for  the  cure  of  these 
things.  As  I  saw  my  glorious,  patient  dog, 
my  faithful  companion  in  many  a  long,  lone 
journey,  my  deliverer,  humanly  speaking, 
from  many  a  dangerous  blizzard  storm,  thus 
dying  slowly  before  me,  I  did  long  for  wise 


124        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

old  Kover,  the  famous  dog  doctor  of  my 
wounded  dogs  in  other  days.  I  have  always 
felt  confident  that  Rover  could  have  cured 
that  wounded  shoulder  of  Jack.  Other  dogs 
with  great  wounds  were  cured  by  him,  but 
alas !  poor  Jack  was  too  far  away  from  him, 
and  so  we  thus  lost  him.  And  when  he  died 
there  was  sadness  and  gloom  in  that  house 
for  many  a  day,  for  even  the  children  were 
comfortless  and  lonesome,  for  they  could 
not  easily  forget  their  great  playmate  and 
protector. 

We  buried  Jack  at  the  foot  of  a  beautiful 
Canadian  maple  tree.  If,  as  John  Wesley 
and  many  other  thoughtful  learned  men  be- 
lieved, there  is  to  be  a  resurrection  for  the 
brute  creation,  surely  Jack  deserved  it. 
And  why  should  he  not  have  it? 


VIII 

CUFFY,  THE  BEAUTIFUL  NEWFOUNDLAND  DOG 

CUFFY  was  the  most  beautiful  dog  I 
ever  owned.    She  was  a  thoroughbred 
Newfoundland    of    the    short    curly- 
haired  variety.    Every  curl  upon  her  seemed 
absolutely  perfect,   and  they  were  appar- 
ently all  of  the  same  size.    She  was  always 
an  object  of  admiration  to  every  lover  of 
these  noble  animals.    Even  persons  who  had 
but  little  love  for  dogs  would  stop  and  ad- 
mire beautiful  Cuffy. 

Like  Jack,  her  inseparable  companion, 
she  was  a  gift  from  the  late  Senator  San- 
ford,  of  Hamilton.  In  company  with  Jack, 
she  reached  our  far-off  northern  home  on 
the  land  of  the  Cree  Indians,  after  a  long 
journey  of  about  three  thousand  miles. 
During  this  tedious  trip,  which  occupied 
several  weeks,  these  two  dogs  were  on  sev- 
eral lines  of  railroads  and  steamboats. 
When  they  reached  the  northern  limits  of 
these  civilized  methods  of  transportation, 
125 


ia6        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

they  were  then  transferred  to  an  Indian 
skiff,  and  in  this  primitive  boat,  packed  in 
with  fur  traders5  outfits,  they  finished  their 
long  journey  and  reached  our  Mission  none 
the  worse  for  their  many  adventures.  One 
thing  that  perhaps  more  than  anything  else 
deterred  unprincipled  dog  fanciers  from 
stealing  either  of  them,  was  the  pathetic 
engraving  on  the  brass  plates  on  the  collar 
of  each  dog.  It  read  as  follows : — 

"  A  poor  Missionary's  dog, 
Please  don't  steal  him." 

This  proved  a  sufficient  deterrent,  and  so 
my  two  valuable  dogs  reached  me  in  safety. 
Years  after,  I  travelled  over  that  same  wild 
route  by  which  these  dogs  had  come,  and 
was  not  a  little  amused  by  hearing  the  com- 
ments of  several  persons,  who  admitted  that 
they  had  cast  covetous  eyes  upon  those  mag- 
nificent dogs,  but  had  been  restrained  from 
stealing  them  by  the  warning  legend  on 
their  collars. 

Cuffy  was  not  only  very  beautiful  in  ap- 
pearance, but  she  was  also  so  affectionate 
and  docile  in  every  way,  that  Mrs.  Young 
speedily  claimed  her  as  her  special  posses- 
sion, and  the  claim  was  never  after  dis: 


EGERTON    R.    YOUNG    AND    "JACK"    OF    TO-DAY. 


Cufty,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  1 27 

puted.  She  soon  learned  that  she  was  con- 
sidered the  sole  property  of  her  mistress, 
and  as  a  very  natural  result,  she  most  de- 
cidedly Constituted  herself  her  alert  pro- 
tector. Woe  to  the  strange  dog  that  in 
Cuffy's  jealous  watchfulness  came  too  near 
her  beloved  mistress.  Size  or  sex  made  no 
difference.  The  intruder  would  be  attacked 
with  such  fury  that  he  was  glad  to  beat  an 
ignominious  retreat,  often  without  the 
slightest  idea  why  he  had  received  such  a 
shaking.  Very  soon  after  this  loving  rela- 
tionship had  been  established  between  Cuffy 
and  her  mistress  the  affectionate  creature 
was  ever  striving  to  manifest  her  love.  We 
were  all  amused  by  the  persistent  way  in 
which  she  was  ever  constituting  herself  her 
mistress's  footstool.  No  matter  whether  it 
was  out  for  a  walk  in  the  wild  woods  dur- 
ing our  brief  pleasant  summer  time,  or  at 
home  amidst  household  cares,  the  instant 
Mrs.  Young  sat  down  to  rest,  Cuffy  would 
throw  herself  at  her  feet  and  in  her  mute 
but  eloquent  way,  plead  that  her  warm, 
curly  body  might  have  the  honour  of  being 
her  mistress's  footstool.  Then  when  the 
meals  were  announced  and  we  gathered 
round  the  table,  Cuffy  would  crawl  under 


128        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  table  near  to  her  mistress's  feet  and  in- 
sist upon  their  being  placed  upon  her  side. 
If  there  was  any  delay  in  this  being  done, 
Cuffy  would  twist  her  head  around  and  tak- 
ing the  feet  carefully  in  her  mouth,  would 
place  them  where  she  desired  them  to  rest. 
This  being  accomplished  to  her  satisfaction, 
she  would  then  remain  perfectly  still  until 
the  sitting  or  meal  was  ended. 

She  was  very  easily  taught  to  fetch  and 
carry,  and  nothing  gave  her  greater  pleasure 
than  to  be  sent  into  other  rooms  for  well- 
known  articles.  She  became  quite  an  adept 
at  this  work,  but  never  equalled  Jack,  as 
some  of  his  triumphs  were  simply  marvel- 
lous. Cuffy  acquired  the  art  of  opening 
every  door  in  the  house,  when  she  was  on 
the  side  where  it  opened  from  her,  but  she 
was  completely  foiled  when  the  door  opened 
towards  her.  With  but  a  few  lessons  I 
taught  Jack  how  to  accomplish  the  feat,  and 
he  never  had  any  difficulty  afterwards,  but 
poor  Cuffy  never  could  get  possession  of  the 
knack  of  pulling  the  door  towards  her  and 
thus  opening  it.  However,  this  did  not 
much  bother  her,  if  Jack  happened  to  be 
about,  and  they  were  generally  together ;  for 
after  making  an  attempt  on  the  door  and 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  129 

as  usual  failing,  she  would  march  over  to 
the  spot  where  Jack  was  comfortably  sleep- 
ing upon  his  fur  rug,  and  unceremoniously 
seizing  him  by  the  ear,  would  lead  him  to 
the  closed  door  and  in  expressive  dog  lan- 
guage would  order  him  to  immediately  open 
it. 

With  this  demand  he  always  quickly 
complied,  for  Cuffy  was  a  bit  of  a  tyrant 
and,  presuming  on  her  sex,  lorded  it  over 
him  most  thoroughly.  In  fact  she  had  him 
in  the  most  thorough  subjection,  and  it  often 
gave  us  lots  of  amusement  to  watch  her 
coquettish  and  tantalizing  ways,  and  Jack's 
patience  and  quiet  dignity.  Yet,  like  many 
a  hen-pecked  spouse,  it  seemed  that  the  more 
she  imposed  upon  him,  the  greater  his  love 
and  jealous  care. 

The  only  battles  that  I  recall  having 
had  with  Jack,  were  on  Cuffy's  account,  and 
battles  royal  they  were.  They  came  about 
in  this  way.  The  principal  food  for  all  my 
dogs  was  fish.  During  the  winter  months 
the  fish  are  frozen  so  hard  that  they  have  to 
be  thawed  out  ere  they  are  fed  to  the  dogs. 
When  the  dogs  were  at  home  the  fish  were 
thawed  out  at  the  hot  kitchen  fire  and  dis- 
tributed among  the  hungry  animals  in  the 


130        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

yard  outside.  Cuffy  could  not,  or  would  not 
understand  that  she  was  not  to  take  her 
large,  oily  fish  into  the  house  and  there  lei- 
surely devour  it  on  the  study  or  dining-room 
floor.  A  big  grease-spot  on  the  floor  or  car- 
pet seemed  a  trifling  affair  in  comparison 
with  her  having  to  eat  her  supper  in  the 
bitter  cold.  Several  times  had  I  sternly  re- 
proved her,  and  put  her  outside,  to  finish 
her  fish  with  the  other  dogs.  Finding  at 
length  that  scoldings  were  of  no  avail,  and 
some  protests  coming  in  from  other  quar- 
ters about  carpets  being  ruined,  I  was  at 
length  obliged  to  resort  to  stern  measures, 
and  so  one  evening,  when  her  actions  had 
been  unusually  provoking,  I  took  her  out 
and  gave  her  a  real  good  whipping.  As  she 
had  never  before  been  whipped,  she  did  not 
at  first  realize  what  it  meant.  However,  I 
was  resolved  that  she  should  know,  and 
know  so  thoroughly,  that  the  whipping 
would  not  have  to  be  repeated,  and  so  I 
continued  the  use  of  the  lash  until  she  be- 
gan to  vigourously  cry  out  under  its  inflic- 
tion. 

Anticipating  trouble  from  yet  another 
quarter,  I  had  prepared  for  the  emergency. 
I  had  placed  near  at  hand  a  large  heavy 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  131 

oak  axe  handle,  and  it  turned  out  fortunate 
enough  for  me  that  I  had  such  a  formidable 
weapon.  Just  as  I  had  expected,  Jack's 
blood  was  up  as  soon  as  he  heard  Cuffy's 
cries.  He  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
large  yard  and  busily  engaged  in  eating  his 
second  fish.  Suddenly  springing  up,  he  was 
a  splendid  sight  as  there  he  stood  for  an  in- 
stant, head  up,  ears  alert,  and  with  his  foot 
on  his  coveted,  half-devoured  fish.  As 
Cuffy's  cries  continued,  with  a  rush  and  a 
roar  the  enormous  fellow  came  for  me. 

I  knew,  from  some  exciting  experiences 
I  had  had  with  angry  dogs  in  the  past,  that 
my  dog-whip  was  of  but  little  avail  in  the 
battle  before  me,  and  so  I  quickly  exchanged 
it  for  the  heavy  axe-handle.  And  I  had  to 
be  quick  about  it,  for  it  did  not  take  the  now 
thoroughly  angry  dog  long  to  dash  across 
the  yard  and  plunge  recklessly  at  me  for  the 
rescue  of  his  beloved  mate.  However,  I  was 
ready  for  him;  and  so,  as  he  sprang  vi- 
ciously at  me  I  was  able  to  strike  him  such 
a  blow  that  I  knocked  him  completely  over. 
In  an  instant  he  was  up  again,  and  once 
more  he  sprang  at  me  just  as  viciously  as 
before.  However,  I  was  on  my  guard,  and 
again,  with  all  my  might,  I  struck  him  on 


132        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  side  of  his  head.  He  went  down  all  in 
a  heap,  and  at  first  I  thought  I  had  killed 
him. 

But  this  was  only  for  a  few  seconds. 
Then  he  was  up,  and  again  he  charged  me. 
My  third  blow  completely  dazed  him,  so 
much  so  that  when  he  rallied  from  it  he 
skulked  off  to  the  kennels.  Next  day  he  was 
distant  and  sulky,  and  it  was  evident  that 
we  were  to  have  another  battle  ere  the  ques- 
tion as  to  which  was  master  would  be 
settled.  The  decisive  battle  came  off  a  few 
days  after.  As  I  had  been  obliged  so 
abruptly  to  leave  off  punishing  Cuffy  and 
fight  for  my  life  against  Jack,  her  ladyship 
had  become  possessed  with  the  idea  that  the 
victory  had  been  on  their  side,  and  that  she 
could  do  as  she  liked.  The  result  was  that 
one  evening  shortly  after,  she  marched  into 
the  dining-room  with  a  large  fish,  and  there 
on  the  carpet  began  leisurely  to  devour  it. 
And,  furthermore,  when  requested  to  take 
up  her  fish  and  go  outside  she  most  decid- 
edly, with  ruffled  curls  and  angry  growls, 
refused  to  do  anything  of  the  kind. 

It  was  quite  evident  that  things  were  com- 
ing to  a  crisis  in  the  dog  kingdom.  Had 
Jack  encouraged  her  to  thus  act,  and  were 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  133 

other  dogs  in  sympathy  with  her  and  also 
getting  ready  to  go  on  strike  against 
authority? 

No  matter,  whatever  it  is  it  must  be  met 
and  settled,  and  settled  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  will  not  be  repeated.  The  first  thing 
I  did  was  to  shut  Jack  up  in  the  fish  house. 
Then  I  went  for  Cuffy.  I  gave  her  a  most 
thorough  trouncing.  Before  I  was  through 
with  her,  she  found  out  who  was  master, 
and  never  did  she  growl  at  me  again. 

During  her  castigation  she  had  cried 
bitterly.  These  cries  had  terribly  excited 
Jack.  Like  a  caged  lion,  he  had  growled 
and  raged  in  his  prison  abode,  out  of  which 
he  had  made  the  most  desperate  attempts  to 
escape.  He  smashed  the  few  panes  of  glass 
in  the  window  of  the  fish  house,  but  the 
window  was  too  small  and  high  for  him  to 
struggle  through. 

When  I  had  thoroughly  conquered  Cuffy, 
and  we  were  good  friends  again,  I  armed 
myself  with  the  same  axe  handle  I  had  used 
before,  and  then  went  to  have  it  out  with 
Jack.  The  instant  I  unlocked  the  door,  I 
sprang  back  on  my  guard.  Without  any 
hesitancy  and  just  as  viciously  as  before  he 
sprang  at  my  throat.  I  am  confident  that 


134        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

if  I  had  slipped  or  missed  him,  he  would 
have  killed  me.  But  I  did  not  miss  him. 
My  muscles  were  strong  and  hardened  by 
the  vigourous  exercise  of  that  wild  North- 
land, and  so  it  was  possible  for  me  to  strike 
a  blow  like  a  blacksmith.  Big  as  he  was  and 
weighing  nearly  two  hundred  pounds,  he 
went  down  under  that  blow  as  though  shot. 
His  recuperative  power  seemed  marvellous. 
Again  and  again  he  came  for  me,  but  in 
every  instance  I  was  thus  able  to  throw  him 
over.  At  length  he  began  to  lose  heart  in 
his  rushes,  and  then,  after  receiving  a  spe- 
cially ugly  clip  on  the  jaw,  his  opposition 
ceased  and  all  the  fight  seemed  suddenly  to 
go  out  of  him,  and  there  the  great  big  fellow 
lay  sprawled  out  on  the  ground  and  coolly 
looking  at  ma 

Now,  for  the  first  time  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  conflict,  I  spoke  to  him  : 

"Jack!  What  do  you  mean  by  this?  I 
am  ashamed  of  you !  Come  here !  Come  at 
once !  How  dare  you  act  like  this !  " 

Thus  talking  to  him,  I  stretched  out  one 
of  my  hands  to  him,  and  at  once  he  began 
crawling  towards  me.  As  he  slowly  came 
crouching  to  my  feet  and  the  big  tail  began 
wagging,  I  saw  that  the  dog  was  conquered. 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  135 

Throwing  away  the  big  club,  I  fearlessly 
met  him  half-way  and  at  once  began  strok- 
ing the  great  head,  on  which  I  had,  such  a 
short  time  before,  rained  such  heavy  blows. 
Jack  was  conquered,  and  so  was  Cuffy,  and 
from  that  day  forward,  my  word  was  law, 
and  never  again  did  either  of  them  receive 
a  blow. 

The  writing  of  these  battles  with  my 
noble  dog  has  been  the  most  unpleasant  part 
of  my  work.  Some  readers  may  perhaps 
chide  me  as  having  been  too  severe  in  my 
methods.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
in  such  conflicts  the  man  or  the  dog  must 
be  the  master.  The  punishment  at  the  time 
seemed  severe  but  it  never  had  to  be  re- 
peated. For  eleven  years  Jack  was  obedient 
and  true,  and  never  after  that  last  battle 
was  he  struck  again. 

As  might  have  been  expected  from  her 
Newfoundland  origin,  Cuffy  was  very  fond 
of  the  water.  She  was  a  splendid  swimmer, 
and  with  Jack  as  her  companion  spent  sev- 
eral hours  each  day  in  the  lake,  on  the 
shores  of  which  we  dwelt,  during  the  few 
warm  months  of  our  brilliant  summer.  She 
would  generally  remain  in  the  water  long 
after  Jack  had  felt  that  he  had  had  quite 


136         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

enough  swimming  for  that  day.  He,  how- 
ever, would  never  lose  sight  of  her  until  she 
had  become  thoroughly  satisfied  with  her 
joyous  sportings  in  the  waves.  When  at 
length  she  returned  to  the  shore,  great  in- 
deed was  his  delight,  and  noisily  demonstra- 
tive his  welcome.  Then  most  thoroughly 
would  she  impose  upon  him.  Instead  of 
swimming  east  where  there  was  a  pleasant 
sandy  beach,  and  there  easily  walking 
ashore,  her  ladyship  would  swim  directly 
towards  the  spot  on  the  steep  rocky  shore 
where  Jack  was  visible,  and  there  insist 
upon  him  helping  her  up  at  that  precipitous 
place.  This  was  not  always  an  easy  job.  If 
Jack  had  happened  to  be  where  the  rock 
rose  only  a  short  distance  above  the  water, 
he  could  reach  down  and,  seizing  her  by  the 
back  of  her  neck,  help  her  to  scramble  to 
shore.  Sometimes,  however,  it  happened 
that  when  Cuffy  started  for  the  land,  Jack 
would  be  perched  on  one  of  the  highest 
points  of  the  rocky  shore.  Then  the  fun 
would  begin.  Jack,  apparently  conscious  of 
the  trouble  ahead,  would  carry  on  in  the 
most  frantic  manner,  and  seemed  to  be  try- 
ing to  tell  the  obstinate  dog  that  she  was 
coming  to  the  wrong  place.  But  not  a  whit 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  137 

cared  Cuffy.  To  that  spot  would  she  swim, 
and  when  she  reached  it  she  would  raise 
herself  up  as  high  as  she  could  and  then 
howl  and  cry  for  assistance. 

Poor  Jack!  He  was  simply  wild  with 
excitement.  In  vain  would  he  reach  down 
as  far  as  he  could,  and  bark  back  to  her,  in 
response  to  her  bowlings.  Various  were  the 
expedients  which  he  used  to  try  to  help  her 
out.  One  of  the  most  ingenious  plans,  and 
which  displayed  a  good  deal  of  reasoning 
power,  was  to  rush  off  to  a  pile  of  old  rub- 
bish or  lumber  and  there  select  a  long,  thin 
stick.  Carrying  this  back  to  the  steep,  he 
would  drop  one  end  of  it  over  to  Cuffy.  He 
would  then  vigourously  haul  on  at  the  other 
end,  and  soon  land  her  on  the  shore,  greatly 
to  his  delight.  Never,  however,  did  any  of 
us  observe  her  appear  to  express  the  slight- 
est gratitude  for  all  his  solicitude  or  clever 
expedients  for  her  rescue.  She  just  ac- 
cepted it  all  as  a  matter  of  course,  and,  as 
usual,  snubbed  him  on  the  first  occasion 
afterward. 

One  of  her  great  delights  when  in  the 
water  was  to  frolic  with  some  large  stur- 
geon which  I  had  secured  in  the  lake  near 
the  shore.  These  sturgeon  are  only  to  be 


138         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

caught  during  a  few  weeks,  and  then  they 
swarmed  in  great  numbers  on  our  shores. 
They  were  caught  in  large  gill-nets  by  the 
Indians,  and  brought  alive  to  the  Mission. 
Their  meat  when  fresh  is  much  superior  to 
what  it  is  when  salted.  The  result  was  we 
resorted  to  various  expedients  to  keep  these 
great  sturgeon  alive,  until  we  wished  to  use 
them.  Some  of  them  were  ten  feet  long. 
One  plan  was  to  make  a  sturgeon  pond  in 
some  sheltered  bay.  This  answered  very 
well  when  we  had  a  large  number  of  them, 
but  if  there  were  only  a  few  in  that  pond, 
they  became  so  wary  and  cunning,  that  it 
was  very  difficult  to  capture  one  when  de- 
sired. 

A  very  common  plan  was  to  have  a  few 
swimming  in  the  lake  each  fastened  to  the 
end  of  a  long  rope.  These  ropes  were  of  soft 
cotton  and  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet 
long.  One  end  was  so  fastened  to  the  stur- 
geon's head  that  it  caused  no  pain  or  incon- 
venience. The  other  end  of  the  rope  was 
secured  at  the  shore.  Sturgeon  are  very 
powerful  fish  and  are  able  to  give  a  strong 
pull.  Being  thus  tied  did  not  seem  to 
trouble  them  much,  and  so  they  gambolled 
and  played  as  much  as  usual  before  us. 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  139 

Nothing  pleased  Cuffy  more  than  to  plunge 
into  the  water  among  them  and  to  take  a 
part  in  the  fun.  At  first  when  she  used  to 
thus  spring  in  among  them,  they  would  all 
dive  down  and  lie  quietly  at  the  bottom. 
After  a  while  some  of  them  at  least  did  not 
seem  to  mind  her  and  played  about  as  usual. 
There  was  an  especially  large  one,  that 
became  quite  friendly  with  Cuffy,  although 
the  dog  never  seemed  to  understand  how  it 
was  that  the  fish  could  so  quickly  get  out 
of  sight.  One  great  trick  of  Cuffy's  was  to 
firmly  seize  hold  of  the  tail  of  the  great  fish. 
The  instant  the  sturgeon  would  feel  this, 
down  it  would  quickly  dive,  dragging  Cuffy 
completely  out  of  sight.  It  would  not  how- 
ever be  very  long  before  the  dog,  sputter- 
ing and  blowing,  would  come  to  the  surface 
and  quickly  strike  out  for  the  shore.  Here 
she  would  cough  and  sneeze  at  a  great  rate 
until  she  had  forced  all  the  water  out  of 
her  lungs.  This  sudden  and  doubtless  un- 
expected plunge  into  the  depths,  did  not  in 
any  way  discourage  the  plucky  dog  and  so, 
as  soon  as  the  sturgeon  was  up  and  appar- 
ently looking  for  its  old  playmate,  Cuffy 
would  plunge  in  to  renew  this  most  unique 
sport. 


140        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

We  used  up  all  the  other  sturgeon  ere  we 
cast  our  hungry  eyes  on  Cuffy's  queer  play- 
mate. We  let  it  live,  and  they  enjoyed  their 
strange  gambols  together,  until  the  winter 
was  close  at  hand  and  the  water  had  become 
so  icy  cold  that  it  seemed  cruel  to  allow 
Cuffy  to  plunge  into  it.  Then  we  feasted 
upon  it.  But  what  an  attraction  it  would 
have  made  for  an  enterprising  showman ! 

Living  on  fish,  as  we  were  obliged  to  do 
in  those  days,  for  nearly  all  the  winter 
months,  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  go  off  to 
the  goose  hunt  in  the  spring  with  the  pros- 
pect of  returning  with  a  number  of  those 
splendid  game  birds.  I  will  tell  of  Cuffy's 
first  encounter  with  an  old  goose,  which, 
although  wounded,  had  still  enough  fight  in 
him  to  keep  at  bay  for  a  time  even  the  re- 
doubtable Cuffy. 

As  was  but  natural,  I  felt  quite  proud 
when  I  saw  my  first  wild  goose  drop,  slowly 
it  is  true,  from  the  passing  flock  at  which  I 
had  fired,  and  light  with  a  broken  wing  far 
out  on  the  distant  ice-field.  I  had  with  me 
one  train  of  dogs.  These  I  had  ordered  to 
crouch  low  at  my  feet  while  I  fired.  Cuffy's 
quick  eye  was  the  first  to  catch  sight  of  the 
wounded  goose,  even  while  it  was  high  up 


Cuffy,  the  Beautiful  Newfoundland  Dog  141 

in  the  air,  and  observe  its  desperate  efforts 
to  stay  with  its  fellows.  When  this  was 
impossible  and  it  began  to  descend,  I 
quickly  unharnessed  the  eager  dog.  The  in- 
stant the  goose  alighted,  at  a  distance  of  at 
least  three-quarters  of  a  mile  away,  I  gave 
Cuffy  a  cheery  word,  and  let  her  go. 

Quickly  reloading  my  gun  I  sprang  on  my 
dog-sled  and  as  rapidly  as  we  could  travel, 
we  followed  after.  Hampered  as  we  were 
by  Cuffy's  dangling  harness,  we  could  not 
make  very  rapid  progress,  but  we  did  get 
near  enough  to  see  the  battle  between  Cuffy 
and  that  wild  goose.  At  first  the  goose,  by 
rapid  running,  aided  by  its  one  wing,  tried 
to  get  away  from  the  dog.  When,  however, 
it  found  out  that  this  was  impossible,  it  sud- 
denly stopped  and  stood  on  the  defensive. 
With  a  bark  of  anticipated  easy  triumph, 
Cuffy  recklessly  rushed  in  to  seize  the  goose. 
But  alas,  what  a  humiliation !  Before  that 
dog  knew  what  had  happened,  she  was  lying 
on  her  back  on  the  ice  and  fairly  howling 
with  rage  and  pain.  WTith  one  quick  blow, 
with  his  uninjured  wing,  that  old  goose  had 
struck  that  dog  such  a  blow  that  under  its 
terrific  force  she  was  knocked  over  and 
dazed  by  it. 


142         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

But  Cuffy  was  a  very  gamey  dog  and  so 
ghe  was  soon  up  and  at  it  again.  Another 
humiliating  fall  or  two  awaited  her  and 
taught  her  to  be  wary.  So  as  she  sprang  at 
the  goose  again,  she  feinted  in  her  rushes. 
Then  when  she  had  thrown  the  goose  off  his 
guard  she  made  a  quick  rush,  and  just  as  we 
reached  her  it  was  all  over  with  that  goose. 

Cuffy's  head  was  sore  for  days  after.  The 
goose  was  a  tough  old  gander  and  so  we 
hung  him  up  for  some  weeks,  ere  we  con- 
sidered him  tender  enough  to  be  tackled  as 
a  specially  dainty  article  of  food. 

Cuffy  served  me  well  for  a  number  of 
years  as  one  of  my  finest  sleigh  dogs.  She 
took  to  the  work  very  easily  and  never  had 
she  to  be  whipped  or  even  scolded  when  in 
harness.  A  cheery  word  was  all  that  was 
necessary  to  induce  Cuffy  to  do  all  that  she 
could  do.  With  Jack  she  was  privileged 
above  all  the  other  dogs  at  the  wintry 
camps.  When  blizzards  howled  over  us, 
and  the  cold  was  so  terrible  that  the  spirit 
thermometer  indicated  anywhere  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  fifty  or  sixty  degrees  be- 
low zero,  these  two  dogs  were  permitted  to 
sleep  on,  and  sometimes  under,  my  fur 
robes  to  help  keep  me  from  freezing  to  death. 


IX 

VOYAGEUR,  THE  MATCHLESS  LEADER 

OYAGEUR  was  the  finest  leader  dog 
\  /  I  ever  owned.  No  horse  responded 
V  more  quickly  to  the  pull  upon  the 
rein  than  did  Voyageur  to  the  voice  of  his 
driver.  Certain  words  used  by  the  dog- 
drivers  soon  become  well  understood  by  the 
leaders,  and  are  obeyed  by  them  with  more 
or  less  promptness  according  to  the  intelli- 
gence or  training  of  the  dogs.  Some  dogs 
that  at  times  display  great  intelligence  and 
quickness  in  responding  to  the  calls  of  the 
driver,  at  other  times  seem  provokingly 
stupid.  But  Voyageur  could  always  be  de- 
pended upon.  "  Marche !  "  to  him  always 
meant  "  Go  on,"  while  "  Chaw  "  or  "  Yee," 
meant  to  turn  to  the  right  or  left  as  might 
be  required,  and  never  did  he  mistake  the 
one  for  the  other.  Then  when  "  Isse ! "  was 
added  to  either  word,  he  knew  it  meant  to 
turn  back  sharp  and  quick  on  the  trail  on 
the  side  indicated  by  the  added  word. 
143 


144         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Voyageur  was  a  large,  long-legged  nearly 
white  dog  of  mixed  breed,  and  not  what 
might  be  called  handsome.  When  being 
trained  in  early  life,  he  displayed  snch  an 
amount  of  fierceness  and  stubbornness  that 
he  was  severely  whipped.  On  one  of  these 
occasions  the  end  of  the  heavy  lash  accident- 
ally struck  him  in  one  of  his  eyes  and  de- 
stroyed it  This  was  a  great  sorrow  to  his 
master,  but  it  did  not  in  the  end  seem  to  be 
much  of  an  injury  to  Voyageur.  However, 
it  made  him  ever  after  extremely  nervous, 
and  he  ever  resented  being  silently  ap- 
proached on  his  blind  side. 

He  was  never  an  affectionate  or  playful 
dog.  A  petting  he  considered  an  insult. 
Kind  words  offered  in  return  for  some 
splendid  work  done  by  him  he  treated  with 
scorn,  unless  they  were  accompanied  by  an 
extra  gift  of  pemmican  or  an  additional  fish 
to  his  usual  allowance.  He  never  was  seen 
to  play  with  other  dogs,  and  so  vigourously 
did  he  resent  the  efforts  of  some  younger 
dogs  to  get  up  a  romp  with  him  that  they 
seldom  made  a  second  attempt.  When  I 
opened  the  kennels  and  let  all  the  dogs  out 
for  exercise,  Voyageur  seemed  to  consider 
the  whole  thing  a  nuisance,  and  never  en- 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     145 

tered  into  the  wild,  joyous  frolics  with  the 
rest.  If  when  driven  out  by  an  Indian  he 
did  condescend  to  follow,  it  was  at  least  a 
hundred  yards  or  so  in  the  rear,  and  he 
seemed  to  rejoice  when,  unnoticed,  he  could 
turn  back  and  curl  up  again  in  his  favourite 
corner. 

If  allowed  to  run  loose  about  the  place 
during  the  months  when  the  dogs  were  at 
work,  one  end  of  a  rope  about  a  hundred 
feet  long,  had  to  be  tied  around  his  neck. 
This  was  necessary  as  he  was  very  difficult 
to  catch.  A  clever  Indian,  however,  taking 
advantage  of  his  blind  side,  could  generally 
without  much  trouble  get  near  enough  to 
him  to  take  hold  of  this  long  trailing  rope. 
When  this  was  once  accomplished,  although 
I  have  seen  two  hours  spent  ere  he  was  cap- 
tured, Voyageur  would  at  once  surrender 
and  never  offer  the  slightest  objection  to 
being  pulled  in  and  harnessed  up  with  the 
other  dogs. 

Once  harnessed,  there  was  a  great  trans- 
formation in  him.  This  sullen,  sulky,  timid 
dog  became  the  most  alert  and  active  of 
them  all.  As  a  leader  he  had  no  equal.  One 
word  from  the  driver,  be  he  white  man  or 
Indian,  was  quite  sufficient.  If  the  route 


146        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

was  on  the  great  lakes,  skirting  along  from 
headland  to  headland,  all  that  was  neces- 
sary was  to  point  to  some  bold  bluff  or  cliff 
that  showed  up,  say  twenty  miles  away,  and 
say :  "  Voyageur,  that  is  our  next  point, 
now  for  it !  "  Straight  as  a  surveyor's  line 
would  be  the  trail  he  would  make,  as  with 
his  traces  taut,  and  without  a  guide  in  front 
or  another  word  from  his  driver,  he  gal- 
lantly dashed  along. 

His  worth  and  sagacity  were  specially 
displayed  where  the  route  lay  over  danger- 
ous, treacherous  places  on  the  ice.  This  was 
not  unfrequent  during  our  late  journeyings 
in  the  spring  months,  when  the  brilliant 
rays  of  the  sun  were  disintegrating  the  ice 
and  so  candelling  or  separating  it  into  long 
crystals  that,  although  still  several  feet 
thick,  it  was  dangerous  to  travel  on.  A 
person  was  liable  to  find  himself  suddenly 
dropping  down  through  this  strangely  disin- 
tegrated ice  that  yielded  to  his  weight  and 
let  him  down  through  it,  while  in  innumer- 
able long  splinters  it  rasped  or  grated  with 
loud  unpleasant  sounds  around  him.  To 
be  able  to  detect  these  weak  places  and  wind 
in  and  out  and  around  them  and  thus  keep 
all  the  dogs  and  sleds  following,  on  safe, 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     147 

strong  ice,  was  the  dnty  of  the  leader  dog, 
if  no  well-trained  Indian  guide  was  at  the 
front.  It  was  in  just  such  dangerous  places 
that  Voyageur  seemed  to  excel.  He  was 
sensitive  to  a  degree  and  wished  to  be  let 
alone.  All  he  wanted  to  know  was  the  direc- 
tion ahead  in  which  he  was  to  go,  and  no 
matter  how  much  he  had  to  twist  and  turn 
around  these  bad,  treacherous  spots  in  the 
ice,  he  kept  the  goal  ever  in  view  and  would 
reach  it  with  unfailing  accuracy. 

This  even  Jack  and  Cuffy  would  never  do. 
They  were  too  sympathetic  to  be  reliable  as 
guides.  Sometimes  when  I  have  put  one  or 
the  other  of  them  at  the  head  to  try  them 
they  would  do  fairly  well  for  a  time  but 
when  a  specially  dangerous  place  had  been 
safely  passed  they  would  be  so  delighted 
over  the  feat  that  they  would  sometimes, 
without  a  word  having  been  said,  abruptly 
turn  round  and  come  to  me,  apparently 
either  to  be  commended  for  their  good  work 
or  to  see  how  I  had  survived  the  ordeal. 
This  was  very  pleasant  and  kindly  on  their 
part,  but  it  was  not  first-class  dog  travelling 
or  indicative  of  the  highest  qualifications  on 
the  part  of  a  leader.  Several  times  it  put 
us  in  very  awkward  predicaments,  in  places 


148        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

still  perilous,  so  we  got  into  the  habit  of 
always  putting  Voyageur  at  the  head,  where 
dangers  seen,  and  more  frequently  unseen 
by  the  human  eye,  beset  our  trail. 

Thus  for  years  he  was  the  undisputed 
leader  of  the  first  train.  Generally  on  my 
long  trips,  the  Indian  guide  was  at  the  front 
running  on  ahead.  His  snowshoes  left  suffi- 
cient track  for  the  dogs,  even  if  he  himself 
were  miles  on  ahead.  No  matter  how 
crooked  the  path  he  thus  marked  out,  the 
trained  dogs  followed  on  it  exactly  as  thus 
indicated.  But  when  a  great  lake  was 
reached  and  the  guide  was  weary  of  the 
monotony  of  having  been,  it  may  be  for  days, 
running  on  ahead  alone,  he  would  gladly  re- 
sign the  leadership  to  Voyageur.  Gallantly 
would  the  noble  dog  take  up  the  work  thus 
assigned  to  him,  and  with  the  route  once  in- 
dicated, would  push  on,  hour  after  hour, 
with  unflagging  energy,  while  the  guide  thus 
released,  would  travel  on  in  the  rear  with 
the  other  Indians  with  whom  he  could  chat 
and  smoke  as  thus  they  followed  in  the  trail 
or  on  the  frozen  lake. 

Among  the  many  remarkable  instances  of 
his  intelligence  and  sagacity  where  in  all 
probability  Voyageur  saved  a  number  of 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     149 

persons  from  a  terrible  death,  the  following 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting. 

For  many  years  Norway  House  was  one 
of  the  most  important  of  the  interior  trad- 
ing posts  of  the  Honourable  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  Here  in  its  many  buildings 
would  be  gathered  from  many  of  the  remote 
trading  posts,  the  valuable  furs,  until  the 
greater  part  of  the  ship's  cargo  was  accumu- 
lated for  transportation  down  the  mighty 
Nelson  Eiver  to  York  Factory,  and  from 
that  port  shipped  to  England. 

The  importance  of  Norway  House  in  those 
days  thus  made  it  one  of  the  great  centres 
of  the  fur  trade.  Here  great  councils  of  the 
Governor,  Chief  Factors,  and  other  officials, 
were  frequently  held. 

One  winter  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  con- 
nection with  the  service,  with  their  Indian 
dog  drivers  and  servants,  started  from  Old 
Fort  Garry,  now  known  as  the  city  of  Win- 
nipeg, to  travel  by  dog  trains  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  north  to  Norway  House.  It 
was  an  unusually  large  party  to  thus  travel 
in  the  depth  of  winter  over  the  ice,  with  the 
temperature  ranging  anywhere  from  twenty 
to  fifty  below  zero.  Generally  the  business 
of  this  great  and  wealthy  fur  trading  com- 


150         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

pany  was  so  arranged  that  the  long  trip  of 
the  gentlemen  of  the  service  could  be  made 
during  the  few  months  of  the  brilliant 
summer  of  that  great  Northland.  However, 
there  had  arisen  some  emergency  in  the 
business  of  the  Company,  and  this  long  cold 
journey  had  to  be  made  by  these  officials  and 
their  retainers  in  spite  of  the  bitter  cold, 
and  the  fact  that  for  a  number  of  nights 
they  would  have  to  sleep  in  holes  dug  in  the 
snow,  in  the  dreary  forests  on  the  shores  of 
the  great  Lake  Winnipeg — on  the  frozen 
surface  of  which  they  travelled  day  after  day. 

There  was  a  large  number  of  dog  trains 
with  their  Indian  drivers,  as  in  travelling 
of  this  description  not  only  is  it  imperative 
to  carry  along  large  supplies  of  fur  robes 
and  blankets  for  the  wintry  beds,  but  abun- 
dant supplies  of  food,  with  kettles,  guns,  am- 
munition, axes  and  various  other  things,  in 
addition  to  a  large  supply  of  pemmican  and 
fish  for  the  dogs. 

Voyageur  led  the  way.  Not  even  the  most 
clever  of  the  Indian  guides  thought  of  indi- 
cating the  route  by  keeping  in  the  front 
while  this  noble  dog  was  in  his  place.  All 
that  was  necessary,  when  the  wintry  cainp 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader    151 

in  the  forest  was  vacated  and  the  whole 
party  once  more  emerged  from  its  depths  on 
to  the  surface  of  the  great  lake,  was  to  point 
out  to  faithful  Voyageur  the  next  headland 
or  distant  promontory  and  with  a  dash  he 
was  off  straight  as  an  arrow  to  the  required 
destination.  The  loud  calls,  the  pistol-like 
reports  of  the  dog-whips  and  their  stinging 
blows,  so  frequent  on  such  hard  journeys, 
were  not  needed  when  Voyageur  led  and  he 
had  companion  dogs  of  equal  courage  and 
endurance,  to  respond  to  his  splendid 
leadership. 

Thus  on  they  travelled  towards  the  north, 
day  after  day.  The  sun  shone  with  such  un- 
dimmed  brilliancy  upon  them  that  the  great- 
est trouble  arose  from  the  attacks  of  snow- 
blindness  caused  by  the  reflection  of  the 
sun's  rays  upon  the  dazzling  pure  white 
snow.  This  disease  is  painful  in  the  ex- 
treme. The  first  sensation  of  its  coming  is 
a  copious  flowing  of  water  from  the  eyes. 
The  next  stage  of  the  attack  is  extreme 
agony  in  the  eyeballs,  a  sensation  of  pain, 
as  though  red  hot  sand  was  being  thrown 
into  the  eyes.  The  final  stage,  if  precau- 
tionary measures  are  not  promptly  taken, 


1 52        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

is  total  blindness.  On  this  special  journey 
a  number  of  the  best  Indian  guides  suffered 
very  severely,  and  so  with  bandaged  eyes 
they  were  only  able  to  keep  up  by  each  hold- 
ing on  to  a  rope  fastened  to  the  hind  end  of 
the  dog  sleds. 

One  night  while  they  were  in  their  camp, 
there  was  a  heavy  fall  of  snow.  In  that  cold 
land  the  snow  docs  not  pack  hard  upon  the 
land  or  ice,  but  is  light  and  is  very  easily 
lifted  up  by  the  first  high  wind  that  comes 
along.  These  winds,  when  they  are  fierce 
and  strong  and  follow  soon  after  a  downfall 
of  snow,  constitute  a  blizzard. 

A  real  blizzard  should  not  be  confounded 
with  an  ordinary  snow  storm.  The  blizzard 
is  the  after  storm,  and  generally  takes  place 
when  there  is  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky.  It  is 
really  only  a  high,  fierce  wind  that  lifts  up 
the  light,  dry  snow,  that  may  have  fallen 
days  before,  and  drives  and  whirls  it  along 
with  such  fury  that  the  air  is  at  times  thick 
with  it,  while  every  road  or  trail  is  simply 
obliterated.  The  falling  of  this  additional 
quantity  of  snow,  to  which  we  have  referred, 
did  not  much  disturb  either  the  whites  or 
Indians  of  our  travelling  party.  In  fact,  as 
it  came  down  upon  them  after  they  were 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader    153 

snugly  ensconced  in  their  robes  and  blank- 
ets and  completely  covered  up,  it  was  con- 
sidered as  an  additional  covering,  that  only 
added  to  their  warmth  and  comfort.  How- 
ever, it  was  not  quite  so  pleasant  on  getting 
up  the  next  morning  as  on  former  days,  as 
the  snow  was  everywhere,  and  some  of  it 
seemed  to  persist  in  getting  down  the  backs 
of  necks,  and  in  other  places  where  it  was 
not  welcome. 

Then  there  was  the  additional  work  of 
hunting  the  dogs,  some  of  whom  were  buried 
under  several  feet  of  snow,  and  persisted  in 
there  remaining  in  their  comfortable  re- 
treats in  spite  of  importunate  calls,  until 
they  had  to  be  literally  dug  out  with  snow- 
shoes  as  substitute  for  shovels  in  the  hands 
of  the  Indians. 

When  everything  had  been  dug  out  of  the 
snow,  the  sleds  packed  and  the  journey  re- 
sumed, it  was  found  out  very  quickly  that 
as  there  was  now  nearly  two  feet  of  dry 
snow  on  the  ice,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
make  as  rapid  progress  as  heretofore.  How- 
ever, as  the  storm  was  over  and  the  sky 
cloudless  they  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  pos- 
sible with  Voyageur  still  bravely  leading. 
Sometimes,  however,  a  number  of  the  In- 


154        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

'dian  drivers  with  their  snowshoes  would,  in 
Indian  file,  push  on  ahead  and  thus  make  a 
beaten  trail  which  made  it  easier  work  for 
the  dogs  to  drag  the  heavy  sleds. 

One  afternoon  there  was  a  glorious 
phenomenon  in  the  western  sky.  A  hazy 
sort  of  a  cloud  seemed  to  come  up  from  be- 
low the  western  horizon  and  to  rapidly  ex- 
tend to  the  zenith.  Then  circle  after  circle 
appeared  around  the  sun,  while  in  each  one 
of  them  mock  suns  shining  in  all  colours  of 
the  rainbow  were  for  a  time  most  vivid  and 
beautiful.  Then  as  the  haze  increased,  the 
circles  dimmed  away  and  the  sun  itself  be- 
came the  central  point  of  a  blazing  cross  of 
most  startling  and  wondrous  beauty.  There 
for  a  time,  in  radiant  glory,  it  shone  in 
splendour,  while  above  it  still  lingered  a 
half-circle  of  one  of  the  solar  rings  that  an 
hour  before  had  been  so  vivid  and  distinct. 

But  while  these  signs  in  the  heavens 
charmed  and  delighted  the  gentlemen  of  this 
travelling  party,  they  filled  with  anxiety 
the  minds  of  the  experienced  Indians. 
These  red  men,  well  posted  in  such  things, 
knew  that  a  fierce  storm  was  coming,  and 
that  these  bright  circles  and  that  flaming 
cross  were  the  signs  that  even  now  there  was 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     155 

rushing  down  from  the  regions  of  Atha- 
baska  or  the  Rocky  Mountains  a  wind  so 
fierce  that  when  it  struck  that  great  Lake 
Winnipeg,  on  which  now  rested  so  peace- 
fully that  great  covering  of  new-fallen  snow, 
it  would  lift  it  up  and  transform  it  into 
cruel  blizzards  which,  like  great  monsters, 
would  shriek  and  howl  for  their  victims. 
Only  by  the  greatest  endurance  and  skill 
could  they  escape  if  suddenly  caught,  far 
out  from  their  camp  or  forest  retreat 

When  the  Indians  communicated  their 
surmisings  to  the  gentlemen  in  charge,  it 
was  decided  to  make  every  effort  to  push  on 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  Every  available  man 
who  could  help  pack  the  trail  was  sent  on 
ahead  to  make  the  travelling  easier  for  the 
dogs.  Thus  for  hours  they  made  good  prog- 
ress, as  the  storm  was  still  distant  and  the 
snow  undisturbed. 

When  night  overtook  them  they  turned 
into  the  forest  and  made  their  wintry  camp. 
As  the  younger  gentlemen  sat  around  the 
fire  well  wrapped  up  in  their  fur  garments 
and  eating  their  suppers,  they  wrere  inclined 
to  laugh  at  the  fears  of  the  Indians  who  had 
predicted  a  coming  blizzard.  And  it  then 
did  seem  as  though  the  forebodings  of  the 


156        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Indians  were  groundless,  for  no  sign  seemed 
to  indicate  a  storm.  Above  them  the  stars 
were  shining  with  the  usual  brilliancy  of  an 
arctic  sky,  for  all  the  hazy  appearances  that 
had  helped  to  make  the  wondrous  visions  of 
the  previous  day  had  entirely  disappeared. 
Even  the  smoke  as  it  rose  up  so  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  blazing  log  fire  in  front  of 
them  gave  no  indication  of  the  slightest 
breeze.  All  nature  was  so  calm  and  still 
that  it  could  hardly  be  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  these  inexperienced  young  men  should 
make  merry  and  have  a  little  fun  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  old  Indians.  In  the  meantime 
these  same  old  Indians  paid  but  little  heed 
to  their  remarks.  They  knew  from  the  ex- 
periences of  the  past  what  was  before  them, 
and  even  while  they  were  being  ridiculed 
they  were  making  all  preparations  to  meet 
the  coming  storm. 

Voyageur  was  given  an  extra  fish  by  the 
Indians  at  feeding  time,  and  provided  with 
a  deer  skin  on  which  to  sleep,  while  at  the 
same  time  his  travelling  rope  was  fastened 
to  a  tree,  so  that  he  should  not  skulk  away. 

As  decided  on  by  the  gentlemen  in  charge, 
the  start  was  made  very  early  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  result  was  that  they  were  many, 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     157 

miles  on  their  journey  ere  the  flashing,  dan- 
cing, brilliant  auroras,  which  had  been  of 
unusual  splendour  and  activity,  were  lost  in 
the  superior  brightness  of  the  rising  sun. 

With  the  light  thus  afforded  the  whole 
party  turned  in  towards  the  eastern  shore 
to  a  well-wooded  rocky  point  and  there  the 
Indians  quickly  cut  down  some  dry  trees 
and  cooked  the  much  needed  breakfast, 
which  was  heartily  enjoyed  by  all.  The  in- 
tense cold  uses  up  so  much  of  the  vitality 
of  the  body  that  large  quantities  of  the  fat- 
test of  food  are  absolutely  essential  if  travel- 
lers would  keep  in  vigourous  health.  Then 
the  journey  was  resumed,  but  it  was  not 
long  before  the  changes  rapidly  taking  place 
around  and  above  them  began  to  show  that 
the  old  Indians  were  right  in  spite  of  the 
criticisms  of  the  inexperienced  white  men. 

Sometimes  a  blizzard  comes  down  sud- 
denly on  travellers,  fairly  rolling  over  them 
like  great  fog  banks  sweeping  in  from  the 
ocean.  At  other  times  it  begins  with  fitful 
gusts  of  wind  that  seem  to  come  from  any- 
where and  disappear  just  as  suddenly  and 
mysteriously.  Thus  it  was  on  this  occasion, 
and  so  our  party  of  whites  and  Indians  be- 
gan to  hope  that  it  would  amount  to  but 


158         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

little,  or  be  so  delayed  that  they  could  reach 
their  camping  place  ere  any  serious  danger 
menaced  them. 

So  they  gallantly  pushed  on  across  the 
great  bay  in  the  lake,  which  was  many  miles 
in  width,  and  where  for  hours,  even  in  fine 
weather,  they  would  be  out  of  sight  of  land. 

Slowly  but  surely  the  storm  increased. 
Voyageur  gallantly  kept  up  his  speed  and 
seemed  to  know  as  well  as  the  drivers  that 
no  time  was  to  be  lost. 

The  trains  were  now  all  fastened  together 
by  tying  the  tail  ropes  of  the  sleds  ahead  to 
the  collars  of  the  dogs  coming  immediately 
in  the  rear.  Additional  ropes  were  made 
secure  to  the  sleds,  and  as  the  blizzard  in  all 
its  fury  was  now  upon  them,  every  person 
except  the  experienced  Indians  was  given 
the  end  of  one  of  these  to  hold  on  to  or,  if 
he  preferred,  to  fasten  to  his  sash  belt  and 
thus  keep  him  from  straying  away  and  being 
lost 

These  precautions  were  absolutely  neces- 
sary, as  often  so  dense  is  the  driving  snow 
that  a  person  cannot  see  many  feet  in  any 
direction,  while  c.t  the  same  time,  the  roar 
of  the  blizzard  is  so  terrible  that  no  human 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     159 

voice  can  be  heard  beyond  a  very  short 
distance. 

Thus  tied  together  as  it  were,  and  with 
old  Voyageur  courageously  leading  on,  they 
made  as  much  progress  as  possible  under 
such  discouraging  circumstances.  When 
the  blizzard  had  settled  down  into  its 
genuine  form,  it  was  evident  that  it  came 
principally  from  the  northwest.  The  result 
wras  our  party  had  to  travel  almost  in  its 
very  face.  At  times,  however,  it  so  swirled 
and  eddied  around  them  that  it  seemed  to 
come  from  every  quarter  of  the  heavens  at 
the  same  moment.  This  revolving,  eddying 
nature  of  a  blizzard  is  what  constitutes  its 
greatest  danger,  as  it  makes  the  task  of 
keeping  in  the  right  direction  so  much  the 
more  difficult  as  there  is  not  the  least  ves- 
tige of  a  road,  and  the  view  is  so  limited 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  see  either  the 
sun  or  any  distant  landmark  to  indicate  the 
route  in  which  parties  may  wish  to  travel. 

However,  Voyageur  was  at  the  head,  and 
there  are  times  when  even  a  dog's  intelli- 
gence is  more  than  a  match  for  man's  ex- 
perience. 

Fortunately   Voyageur,   in   other  years, 


160        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

had  successfully  led  the  way  with  similar 
parties,  and  so  now  in  him  all  were  trust- 
ing, even  if  not  one  man,  white  or  Indian, 
could  see  many  yards  ahead. 

After  some  hours  thus  travelling,  a  halt 
was  called,  pemmican  bags  were  opened  and 
other  supplies  beforehand  provided  were 
made  available,  and  each  man,  as  well  as  he 
could,  in  spite  of  the  storm,  ate  of  the  nour- 
ishing food,  so  essential  to  enable  him  to 
contend  against  the  fierce  storm  and  the 
bitter  cold. 

The  journey  was  then  resumed,  and  for 
some  hours  more  Voyageur  unhesitatingly 
led  them  all  on,  amidst  the  still  raging  bliz- 
zard. After  awhile  the  increasing  darkness 
told  them  that  the  short  wintry  day  was 
drawing  to  its  close,  and  that  the  long  night 
was  at  hand.  This  fact  naturally  created 
some  alarm  and  caused  some  of  the  gentle- 
men in  charge  to  insist  upon  something 
more  being  done  in  reference  to  the  route 
being  travelled  than  by  merely  trusting  to 
the  leadership  of  a  single  dog.  Quietly  the 
Indians  urged  that  nothing  better  could  be 
done  and  that  the  dog  had  best  be  let  alone 
to  his  own  experience  and  intelligence.  But 
suddenly  this  also  seemed  to  fail,  for  un- 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader    161 

expectedly  Voyageur,  the  peerless,  stopped 
in  his  tracks  and  deliberately  lay  down  on 
the  ice  and  snow ! 

This  was  indeed  a  serious  matter  and  one 
that  could  not  be  allowed.  Sharp  and  stern 
were  the  orders  of  the  white  men  in  com- 
mand and  so  when  all  words  of  entreaty  and 
urging  could  not  induce  the  now  apparently 
sulking  balking  dog  to  move  on,  the  heavy 
whip  was  brought  into  requisition  and  the 
noble  dog  was  most  cruelly  beaten.  It  was 
noticed  and  wondered  at  that  even  under 
the  heaviest  strokes  he  gave  out  no  cry  of 
pain  but  in  silence  took  the  painful  beating. 
White  men,  who  stood  around  now  full  of 
anger  and  vexation,  cruelly  kicked  the  poor 
dog  but  still  he  would  neither  move  nor  give 
out  a  sound  of  pain. 

"Paulette!"  shouted  the  white  man  in 
charge,  "  you  must  go  on  and  lead  us.  We 
cannot  remain  here  and  freeze  to  death  in 
this  horrible  blizzard !  " 

Paulette,  the  most  experienced  guide  of 
his  day,  quickly  responded,  and  with  his 
quick  eye  and  long  experience  was  able  to 
note  the  direction  in  which  Voyageur  had 
been  leading  them,  and  so,  even  before  the 
party  was  ready  to  follow,  he  began  to  push 


1 62         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

on  ahead  in  the  gloom  of  that  stormy  night. 
He  did  not,  however,  go  very  far  before  he 
quickly  returned,  with  a  cry  of  terror  and 
alarm,  to  his  comrades. 

"  We  are  on  the  thin  ice  over  the  rapid 
current  of  the  river,"  he  shouted.  "  The  dog 
has  saved  our  lives." 

It  may  be  necessary  here  to  explain  that 
while  many  large  as  well  as  small  rivers 
run  into  Lake  Winnipeg,  it  has  only  one 
outlet,  the  great  Nelson  River.  So  wide  is 
it  at  its  mouth  that  in  the  gloom  of  night, 
or  when  storms  like  this  one  are  raging,  it 
is  quite  easy  for  parties  to  run  out  on  its 
frozen  surface  without  observing  that  they 
have  already  left  the  lake.  To  do  this  is, 
however,  safe  only  when  the  cold  is  intense, 
say  from  twenty  to  sixty  degrees  below 
zero.  But  when  anything  warmer  than  this, 
the  ice  wears  thin  from  below  and  there  is 
the  danger  to  all  who  venture  on  it  as  the 
keen-scented,  clever  Voyageur  discovered 
and  refused  to  pass  over. 

A  very  brief  investigation  showed  this  to 
be  true,  and  there  was  a  speedy  retreat  from 
such  a  precarious  position  to  stronger  ice. 

Fortunately  the  discovery  of  the  running 
water  under  the  thin  ice  indicated  the  local- 


Voyageur,  the  Matchless  Leader     163 

ity,  so  that  a  detour  to  the  east  soon  brought 
them  to  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  forest. 
Here  an  abundance  of  dead  trees  being 
found,  a  roaring  camp  fire  and  a  good  sup- 
per soon  made  them  forget  their  hardships 
in  their  gratitude  for  their  deliverance. 

Old  Voyageur  was  indeed  the  hero  of  the 
hour,  but  he  sullenly  resented  any  petting 
for  his  wonderful  display  of  sagacity,  al- 
though he  did  condescend  to  accept  a  fine 
piece  of  pemmican  in  addition  to  his  ration 
of  white  fish. 


VOYAGEUR,  THE  BROKEN-HEARTED 

VOYAGEUR  had  been  thoroughly 
trained  by  his  former  master,  a  Mr. 
Sinclair  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, before  I  bought  him.  Such  was  his 
singular  undoglike  nature,  that  while  he 
left  his  first  master  without  regret  he  ever 
treated  me  with  indifference.  As  a  dog  out- 
side of  his  harness  he  was  a  nonentity,  or 
rather  a  puzzle,  but  when  at  the  head  of  his 
train,  with  every  muscle  quivering  with  ex- 
citement and  ears  erect  as  he  eagerly  waited 
for  his  "  Marching  orders,"  he  was  every 
inch  a  dog. 

Not  until  we  had  lost  him  did  we  begin 
to  understand  him  and  realize  how  that 
proud  position  of  leadership  was  all  the 
world  to  him. 

It  was  with  him:  " Aut  Caesar  ant 
nullus,"  so  emphatically,  that  when  his  su- 
premacy was  questioned  his  proud  spirit 
164 


Voyageur,  the  Broken-Hearted     165 

scorned  any  second  place,  and  so  he  lay 
down  and  died. 

There  was  something  so  pathetic  and  al- 
most humanly  tragic  about  Voyageur's  end 
that  it  is  sad  to  write  about  it  especially  as 
I  was  the  innocent  cause  of  it 

Well  aware  of  the  short  lives  of  dogs,  and 
thus  sadly  conscious  that  Voyageur  could 
not  last  many  years  longer,  with  all  his  old- 
time  vigour,  I  was  naturally  anxious  to 
have  some  trained  successors  to  take  his 
place.  Becoming  the  fortunate  owner  of 
some  very  fine  young  St.  Bernard  dogs,  sev- 
eral of  which  were  nearly  a  year  old,  I  was 
naturally  desirous  of  breaking  them  in,  and 
especially  of  finding  out  if  at  least  one  of 
them,  would  develop  into  a  good  leader.  In 
the  usual  way  of  training  they  had  already 
had  some  lessons,  and  I  was  much  pleased 
with  the  docility  and  intelligence  with 
which  they  had  acted  when  harnessed  up 
with  older  dogs.  However,  up  to  the  time 
of  the  strange  event  I  am  going  to  relate,  I 
had  never  tried  any  one  of  them  as  a  leader 
dog. 

The  principal  supply  of  white  fish  on 
which  our  own  table  as  well  as  our  dogs  de- 
pended, was  obtained  from  a  fishery  fifteen 


1 66        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

or  twenty  miles  distant.  There  the  fish  were 
caught  in  the  month  of  October,  just  before 
the  ice  formed  on  the  waters.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  the  winter  set  in  early  and  then,  at 
the  cost  of  a  good  deal  of  hardship,  the  nets 
had  to  be  set  under  the  ice  and  kept  em- 
ployed by  the  Indians  until  the  desired  num- 
ber of  these  delicious  fish  was  secured. 

When  caught  these  fish  were  either  hung 
upon  stagings  above  the  reach  of  prowling 
wolves  or  thievish  Eskimo  dogs,  or  else 
packed  away  securely  in  ice. 

I  had,  every  October,  several  thousand 
of  these  fish  thus  caught  and  secured  for 
me.  The  severe  and  steady  frost  did  the 
work  of  curing  them,  as  they  were  frozen  as 
hard  as  stones  and  thus  kept  perfectly  fresh 
and  good  for  several  months. 

The  work  of  drawing  these  fish  home  to 
our  Mission  was  interesting  and  pleasant 
although  the  return  journey  with  the  loaded 
sleds  made  it  necessary  that  we  should  all 
walk,  or  rather  run,  in  the  usual  Indian  jog- 
trot fashion. 

As  I  was  arranging  for  a  long  journey  of 
several  weeks'  duration  to  some  remote  In- 
dians, which  would  necessitate  my  taking 
with  me  my  best  trains,  I  decided  before  be- 


Voyageur,  the  Broken-H carted     167 

ginning  the  trip  to  drag  home  all  of  my  fish 
from  the  distant  fisheries. 

We  worked  with  four  or  five  trains  for 
several  days  and  as  the  weather  was  bril- 
liantly fine  all  the  time,  without  any  snow- 
fall or  blizzard,  we  soon  had  a  splendid 
beaten  trail. 

It  was  quite  customary  for  a  number  of 
my  younger  dogs  to  accompany  the  party 
on  these  trips  and  by  their  antics  and  amus- 
ing ways  to  very  much  break  the  tediousness 
of  the  work,  which,  after  the  first  journeys, 
became  quite  monotonous.  Extra  harness 
would  sometimes  be  carried  along  and  occa- 
sionally we  would  harness  up  some  of  these 
younger  dogs  and  thus  carry  on  the  work 
of  breaking  them  in. 

One  day  as  we  were  on  the  home  stretch 
with  our  heavy  loads  I  harnessed  up  a  very 
fine  young  St.  Bernard  that  had  already 
been  partly  trained  and  fastened  him  in 
front  of  Voyageur,  thus  constituting  him 
leader  of  the  train.  Ere  I  wa&  able  to  start, 
I  was  delayed  by  having  to  refasten  my  load 
of  fish,  which  had  become  somewhat 
loosened. 

When  readv  to  start,  I  shouted : 

"Marche!" 


1 68         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

To  my  surprise  Voyageur  sprang  to  his 
work  and  aided  by  the  strong  dogs  behind 
him,  was  speedily  en  route,  while  the  young 
dog,  with  much  shortened  traces,  ran  gam- 
bolling by  the  side  of  the  harnessed  train. 
Quickly  stopping  the  sleds  I  proceeded  to 
investigate,  and  discovered  that  while  I  had 
been  rearranging  my  load,  Voyageur  had 
been  busily  using  his  teeth,  and  had  suc- 
ceeded in  cutting  off  the  traces  of  the  dog 
that  I  had  had  the  audacity  to  put  in  front 
of  him! 

I  was  amused  and  annoyed — annoyed  at 
having  a  new  harness  nearly  ruined,  and 
amused  at  the  spirit  of  the  matchless  leader 
of  many  years  thus  emphatically  resenting 
the  harnessing  of  a  young  dog  ahead  of  him. 

"  Well,  old  dog,"  I  said,  "  I'll  forgive  you 
this  time,  but  mind,  there  will  be  trouble  if 
you  do  it  again." 

Then  without  any  difficulty  I  caught  the 
young  dog,  and  finding  that  the  traces  which 
Voyageur  had  cut  off  were  still  long  enough 
to  be  available,  I  once  more  fastened  him 
at  the  head  of  the  train.  Then  as  his  head 
was  towards  home,  I  shouted,  "  Marche ! " 
and  the  excitement  began. 


Voyageur,  the  Broken-Hearted      169 

The  young  dog  did  splendidly,  but  poor 
Voyageur  was  wild  and  furious.  He  was 
most  indignant  at  this  insult  heaped  upon 
him  and  was  not  at  all  backward  in  show- 
ing his  temper.  He  first  tried  to  get  hold 
of  the  young  dog  to  thrash  him  for  his  im- 
pertinence. This  the  thoroughly  frightened 
young  dog  did  not  permit  as  he  took  good 
care  to  keep  his  traces  so  stretched  that  he 
was  a  couple  of  feet  ahead  of  the  teeth  of 
the  furious  old  dog.  Failing  in  this,  Voy- 
ageur then  tried  to  cut  the  traces  with  his 
teeth  as  he  had  done  before.  This  of  course 
I  resented,  and  a  couple  of  cracks  from  the 
whip  showed  the  old  dog  that  although  I 
had  forgiven  him  for  his  first  offence  in  this 
line,  I  was  in  no  mood  to  see  my  valuable 
dog  harness  cut  again.  Foiled  here,  the 
excited  dog  now  made  the  most  desperate 
efforts  to  get  ahead  of  the  young  dog  who 
had  tlius  suddenly  supplanted  him  as  leader. 
But  the  old  dogs  behind  Voyageur  did  not 
enter  into  his  spirit,  and  as  the  load  of  fish 
was  heavy,  they  saw  no  reason  for  any 
special  exertion.  They  were  willing  to  do 
their  share  of  the  pulling  at  the  ordinary 
speed,  but  were  not  anxious  to  so  exert 


170        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

themselves  with  a  thousand  weight  of  fish 
on  the  sled  as  to  try  and  run  down  a  young 
dog,  even  if  old  Voyageur  did  desire  it. 

Thus  completely  foiled  in  this  as  in  every 
other  scheme  his  dog  intellect  could  devise, 
Voyageur  suddenly  collapsed.  His  proud, 
eager,  ambitious  spirit  was  completely 
broken.  His  high  head  with  that  ever  alert 
eye  went  down  and  the  long  tail  tried  to 
disappear  between  his  hind  legs.  A  look  of 
utter  despair,  or  rather  discouragement, 
took  possession  of  him,  and  he  just  mechani- 
cally slouched  along  like  a  frightened  wolf. 

Quickly  detecting  this  I  at  once  unhar- 
nessed the  young  dog  from  before  him  and 
thus  left  him  in  his  coveted  place  as  the 
leader. 

As  he  stil^seemed  disconsolate  I  spoke  a 
few  cheery  words  to  him : 

"  Poor  old  dog,  so  you  don't  want  a  young 
supplanter  to  take  your  place.  I  am  sorry 
you  feel  so  badly  about  it  and  so  I  will  not 
vex  you  in  this  way  again." 

But  it  was  too  late.  The  mischief  was 
done,  Voyageur's  heart  was  broken.  He 
never  forgave  me,  and  he  never  held  up  his 
head  again  with  the  old-time  dash  and 


Voyageur,  the  Broken- Hearted     171 

vigour.  All  my  sympathetic  words  were 
now  as  mockery.  He  had  never  cared  much 
for  them;  now  he  seemed  to  consider  them 
as  insults.  He  never  again  gave  me  a  kind 
look  or  a  wag  of  the  tail.  He  just  skulked 
along  home  hardly  dragging  a  pound  of  the 
load.  I  had  hoped  that  a  night's  rest  after 
and  a  good  supper  would  cause  him  to  for- 
get his  annoyance  but  it  was  not  so.  In 
vain  I  put  on  him  my  best  harness  decorated 
with  ribbons  and  silver  bells,  of  which  the 
dogs  are  so  fond.  It  was  of  no  use.  My 
good  wife,  who  was  fond  of  the  noble  fel- 
low, and  who  alone  could  win  from  him  a 
half -gracious  wag  of  his  tail,  tried  in  vain 
to  rouse  him  out  of  his  depression.  But 
she  too  failed  like  the  rest  of  us.  Voyageur 
was  broken-hearted  and  would  cry  and  moan 
like  a  disconsolate  child.  Shortly  after  he 
went  out  on  the  frozen  lake  in  the  front  of 
our  home,  and  there  he  set  up  a  most  mourn- 
ful howling.  Then  he  laid  down  on  the  ice 
as  though  asleep. 

Mrs.  Young,  who  had  seen  him  from  a 
window,  sent  out  an  old  Indian  to  bring 
him  in.  When  the  man  reached  him  he 
found  the  dog  dead. 


172         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Faithful  old  dog !  He  had  not  enough  of 
the  spirit  of  self  humiliation  so  essential  in 
this  modern  age,  when  the  inexperienced 
and  immature  are  preferred  before  the  well 
tried. 


XI 

ROVER  I,  THE  SUCCESSFUL  DOG  DOCTOR 

ROVER  was  a  large,  beautiful,  black 
and  white  dog,  but  he  was  the  most 
chicken-hearted   coward   I   ever  saw. 
The  smallest  dog  in  my  pack  could  make 
him  run  and  he  was  never  known  to  show 
any  fight  or  pugnacity.     The  very  sight  of 
the  whip  set  him  off  in  a  paroxysm  of  howl- 
ings,  and  a  stern,  sharp  reproof  was  met 
with  any  amount  of  comical  dog  sobs. 

He  had  a  short  but  very  white  bushy  tail. 
When  in  good  spirits  he  carried  it  very 
erect,  and  as  it  spread  out  like  a  fan,  it  gave 
him  a  very  laughable  appearance. 

When  quite  a  young  dog,  just  emerging 
from  puppyhood,  he  was  unfortunately  al- 
lowed to  accompany  me  one  wintry  morning 
when  I  went  out  to  visit  some  rabbit  snares 
that  had  been  set  a  mile  or  two  in  the  forest 
behind  my  Mission  home.  The  young  rascal 
became  so  interested  in  the  work,  that  on 
subsequent  occasions  he  slipped  off  alone 
173 


174        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

and  helped  himself  to  some  of  the  snared 
animals.  So  fond  did  he  become  of  rabbits 
for  breakfast  that  I  had  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  in  breaking  him  of  the  habit. 

Whipping  him  caused  him  to  howl  most 
dolefully,  but  his  memory  proved  very  short 
along  that  line  and  soon  he  was  as  bad  as 
ever.  After  trying  various  plans  I  at  length 
succeeded  in  curing  him  in  an  odd  way. 
Finding  him  one  day  in  the  very  act  of  tak- 
ing a  rabbit  out  of  the  snare,  I  caught  him, 
and  in  spite  of  his  doleful  howlings  I  tied 
the  dead  rabbit  securely  around  his  neck 
and  made  him  wear  it  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 
Most  piteously  did  he  plead  to  have  it  taken 
off,  but  I  was  obdurate.  Vainly  he  would 
appeal  to  my  little  boy  and  others  to  relieve 
him  of  his  humiliating  load.  None  would 
listen  to  his  appeals,  but,  as  was  arranged, 
all  chided  him  as  a  very  naughty,  thievish 
dog.  When  he  tried  to  tear  it  off  with  his 
paws  he  was  whipped,  and  thus  he  was 
obliged  to  wear  it  all  day.  At  night  I  took 
the  rabbit  off  and  gave  him  a  good  pelting 
with  it.  This  punishment  completely  cured 
him,  and  from  that  day  he  carefully  shunned 
all  rabbit  snares. 

But  in  spite  of  his  extreme  cowardice  and 


Rover  I,  the  Successful  Dog  Doctor    175 

nervous  sensitiveness  he  was  a  valuable 
sleigh  dog  and  had  any  amount  of  endur- 
ance. Harnessed  in  a  train  of  four  dogs  he 
faithfully  did  his  work  and  never  shirked, 
as  many  of  the  other  dogs  at  times  did. 

When  on  my  long  trips,  often  of  hundreds 
of  miles  with  four  dog  trains  and  three  or 
four  Indian  companions,  the  first  thing  we 
did  when  the  camping  place  for  the  night 
was  selected,  was  to  unharness  the  dogs. 
As  the  camping  place  in  the  snow  must  be 
dug  out  and  prepared  to  be  our  resting  place 
for  the  night,  it  was  an  hour  or  more  before 
it  was  possible  to  thaw  out  the  frozen  fish 
for  the  hungry  dogs'  supper.  To  this  delay 
the  dogs  became  accustomed,  and  in  various 
ways  employed  themselves  until  the  scent  of 
the  thawing  fish  brought  them  in  hungry 
groups  as  near  to  the  blazing  camp  fire  aa 
possible. 

Some  of  the  younger  animals  with  hunt- 
ing instincts,  got  up  a  rabbit  hunt,  as  at 
certain  parts  of  the  country,  during  some 
winters,  the  rabbits  swarmed  in  vast  multi- 
tudes. Rover  had  had  enough  of  rabbit  ex- 
periences and  so  never  bothered  himself 
with  any  hunting  excursions.  He  did,  how- 
ever, amuse  and  interest  us  with  his  elabo- 


ij6        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

rate  preparations  for  his  night's  lodgings. 
Shortly  after  he  was  unharnessed  and  the 
location  of  the  camp  decided  upon,  Rover 
would  deliberately  make  a  tour  round  the 
whole  place.  He  would  carefully  inspect  the 
different  hollows  and  dense  balsam  trees 
that  were  near  at  hand.  Then  he  would,  if 
there  was  to  us  seemingly  little  or  no  wind, 
get  up  on  some  snow-covered  rock  or  fallen 
tree  and  there  sniff  until  he  had  exactly 
found  the  direction  from  which  the  air  was 
coming.  In  this  I  never  knew  him  to  be  at 
fault.  So  calm  at  times  was  the  air  that  the 
smoke  and  sparks  from  our  camp  fire  as- 
cended so  perpendicularly  that  apparently 
there  was  not  the  slightest  movement  in  the 
atmosphere.  Yet  Rover  selected  his  camp- 
ing place  on  the  lee  side  so  accurately  that 
when,  as  it  often  happened  some  hours  after, 
the  wind  rose,  it  never  caught  him  sleeping 
in  an  exposed  place.  How  he  was  able  to 
thus  be  prepared  against  being  caught  ex- 
posed to  a  biting  wind,  was  among  the  mys- 
teries of  animal  instinct 

When  the  cosy  sheltered  spot  was  after 
much  deliberation  thus  decided  upon,  Rover 
set  to  work  to  make  it  habitable  according 
to  his  ability.  First  he  carefully  pawed 


Rover  I,  the  Successful  Dog  Doctor    177 

down  through  the  deep  snow  until  he 
reached  the  ground.  If  bulging  roots  or 
hard  uneven  ground  or  sharp  pointed  stones 
were  met  with,  he  would  at  first  with  his 
teeth  try  to  remove  them.  If  in  this  he 
failed,  he  shifted  his  ground  until  he  was 
satisfied,  then  with  a  grunt  of  great  satis- 
faction, he  curled  round  and  round  in  his 
thus  carefully  prepared  nest  and  rested 
until  the  welcome  call  to  supper  brought 
him,  with  the  others,  to  their  different  In- 
dian drivers  to  receive  each  the  allowance 
of  two  well  thawed  white  fish.  This  was 
the  only  meal  of  the  twenty-four  hours,  and 
so  was  much  prized. 

Big  and  apparently  powerful  as  Rover 
was,  his  driver  had  to  keep  a  vigilant  watch, 
or  the  good-natured  fellow  would  in  all 
probability  be  robbed  of  one  of  his  fish  by 
some  cunning  rascal  of  a  dog  from  another 
train.  He  was  always  a  dainty,  slow  eater. 
He  ate  his  supper  with  great  delight  and 
accompanied  each  morsel  torn  off  and  de- 
voured, with  most  amusing  grunts  or  snorts 
of  satisfaction.  So  leisurely  did  he  thus 
take  his  supper,  that  he  was  invariably  the 
last  dog  to  finish.  This  was  often  an  an- 
noyance to  his  driver,  especially  as  he  was 


1 78         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

never  supposed  to  take  his  own  supper  until 
all  of  his  dogs  were  fed.  When  at  length 
Rover  had  eaten  his  full  allowance  he  would 
leisurely  return  to  his  carefully  prepared 
nest-like  resting  place  in  the  snow,  and  al- 
most invariably  he  found  it  occupied. 

Then  the  fun  began.  The  intruder  was 
generally  one  of  the  lively  dogs  that  had 
been  off  rabbit  hunting,  until  the  loud  call 
for  supper  had  speedily  brought  him  back. 
Quickly  had  he  devoured  his  meal  and  then 
finding  this  cosy  resting-place,  so  carefully 
prepared  by  Kover,  he  had  taken  possession 
and  here  he  was  comfortably  stowed  away, 
as  he  imagined,  for  the  night. 

Not  so,  however,  thought  Rover.  He  was 
in  no  humour  to  be  thus  deprived  of  his 
choicely  selected  and  laboriously  prepared 
nest.  It  was  most  amusing  to  watch  his 
efforts  to  get  the  intruder  out.  But  as  the 
nest  was  perhaps  two  or  three  feet  deep,  and 
the  other  dog  was  inside  and  was  showing 
a  set  of  glittering  teeth,  and  uttering  some 
ominous  growls  poor  Rover  at  the  top  could 
only  muster  up  courage  enough  to  look 
down  at  him  and  say :  "  Bow- wow- wow !  " 

Little  cared  the  interloper  for  these 
"  Bow-wow-wows,"  which  he  knew  Rover 


Rover  I,  the  Successful  Dog  Doctor    179 

had  not  courage  enough  to  follow  up  witK 
any  vigourous  attacks,  and  so  he  merely 
showed  his  teeth  and  uttered  a  growl  or  two 
of  defiance.  He  seemed  to  say :  "  I've  got 
possession — get  me  out  if  you  can ! "  For 
some  minutes  Rover  would  thus  protest  in 
all  the  dog-entreating  words  which  he  had 
in  his  limited  vocabulary,  and  who  knows 
but  he  added  a  few  stronger  ones?  When 
he  saw  that  all  these  efforts  failed,  he  in- 
variably came  for  me. 

When  we  saw  him  coming,  which  always 
afforded  great  fun  to  the  Indians,  I  would 
purposely  move  round  the  fire  in  and  out  of 
the  camp,  on  different  sides,  or  go  in  and 
out  among  the  dog  sleds.  Still  doggedly 
would  Rover  follow  me  up  until  I  felt  I  had 
tried  his  persistence  quite  long  enough, 
when  I  would  stop.  Then  with  a  "yow! 
yow !  yow !  "  he  would  seize  the  fringe  of  my 
moose  skin  leather  coat,  and  with  a  gentle 
yet  firm  tug,  lead  me  to  the  spot  where  he 
had  prepared  his  nest  at  such  trouble  for  his 
night's  rest,  but  which  was  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  an  intruder.  Rover  would  not 
let  go  of  me  until  he  had  brought  me  to  the 
very  edge  of  the  nest.  Then  in  his  comical, 
plaintive  language,  he  would  direct  my  at- 


180        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

tention  to  this  lamentable  state  of  affairs 
and  beg  for  my  helpful  intervention. 

A  good  stick  or  whip,  well  applied,  soon 
made  the  saucy  interloper  leap  out  and 
skulk  away  in  the  gloom,  while  grateful 
Rover  with  some  sincere  "  Bow-wows  "  of 
gratitude  would  spring  into  his  nest  and 
quickly  curl  himself  down  with  his  short 
bushy  tail  over  Iiis  nose,  and  was  soon  en- 
joying his  much  needed  rest. 

When  Rover  was  five  or  six  years  old  he 
constituted  himself  the  surgeon  doctor  of 
all  my  other  dogs.  It  was  most  interesting 
and  sometimes  comical  to  see  him  in  actual 
practice.  Four  years  of  good  faithful  serv- 
ice had  somewhat  stiffened  him  up,  and  so 
he  was  now  only  used  for  short  journeys, 
and  in  the  trains  required  to  draw  wood  for 
the  fires  in  our  church,  school  house,  and 
Mission  home,  from  the  distant  forest.  So 
he  now  had  a  much  easier  time  and  lots  of 
leisure. 

When  the  dogs  arrived  at  home  after 
hard,  long  trips,  it  was  most  interesting  to 
see  how  Rover  took  into  his  special  care 
those  that  had  wounds  of  any  kind  upon 
them,  and  often  some  of  them  returned 
sadly  used  up.  Sometimes  there  were  neck 


Rover  I,  the  Successful  Dog  Doctor    181 

sores  and  sometimes  others,  of  which  we 
knew  not  the  cause.  Then  there  would  be 
others  that  were  caused  by  frost-bites  as 
well  as  poor  bleeding  feet  in  spite  of  all  the 
protection  afforded  by  the  warm  dog  shoes. 

To  these  suffering,  gallant  dogs,  Rover's 
services  were  simply  invaluable.  Nature 
has  so  arranged  that  a  dog's  tongue  is  his 
great  instrument  for  cleansing  and  healing 
his  wounds.  When  a  dog  is  wounded  where 
he  cannot  reach  with  his  tongue,  it  generally 
gangrenes  and  death  ensues  sooner  or  later. 
It  was  in  such  cases  that  Rover's  kindly  and 
persistent  attentions  were  of  great  value. 
He  saved  for  me  many  a  dog. 

The  instant  a  dog  was  unharnessed,  Rover, 
who  was  always  friendly  with  all  my  dogs, 
would  at  once  overhaul  him  and  would 
thus  quickly  find  the  galled  or  wounded 
spots.  Very  gently  then  he  licked  them  even 
if  at  first  the  dog-patient  should  resent  his 
interference,  and  that  sometimes  with  much 
fierceness.  This  did  not  at  all  disturb 
Rover.  I  have  seen  him  just  simply  lie  down 
at  the  feet  of  the  dog  and  wait  for  his  anger 
to  pass  and  then  get  up  and  again  begin 
his  cleansing  the  wound.  No  rebuff  or  even 
a  shaking,  would  discourage  him.  He 


1 82         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

seemed  to  say :  "  That  wound  must  be  at- 
tended to  and  I  am  going  to  do  the  work ; " 
and  do  it  he  did,  and  it  was  well  and  thor- 
oughly done. 

After  a  while  the  dogs  seemed  to  know 
that  this  was  Rover's  work,  and  then  they 
expected  him  to  take  care  of  them.  The 
only  growls  he  now  heard  were  from  dogs 
with  their  first  wounds.  After  that  they 
would  patiently  stand  or  comically  lie  down 
or  roll  over  as  Rover  desired. 

Some  of  them  became  so  accustomed  to 
his  attentions,  that  they  simply  imposed  on 
him.  For  example,  I  have  seen  dogs  with 
sore  feet,  instead  of  using  their  own  tongues 
in  cleansing  and  curing  them,  come  and 
drop  down  before  faithful  old  Rover  and 
stick  out  their  wounded  foot  for  his  inspec- 
tion and  treatment. 

Faithful  old  Rover !  He  seemed  to  realize 
that  great  indeed  was  his  responsibility 
when  I  would  return  from  a  month's  trip 
into  the  interior  with  twelve  or  sixteen  dogs. 
Four  at  least  he  would  find  required  his  at- 
tentions and  care  for  the  next  ten  days  or  so. 

Thus  Rover,  the  greatest  coward  I  ever 
knew  in  dog  flesh,  and  the  steady,  faithful 


Rover  I,  the  Successful  Dog  Doctor    183 

sleigh-dog,  became  what  the  Indians  called, 
"  Muskeke  Atim,"  the  dog-doctor. 

That  terrible  curse  of  northern  dogs,  the 
distemper,  seized  him  for  a  victim,  and  with 
sorrow  we  had  to  bury  Rover  and  many  of 
his  comrades. 


XII 

ROVER  H,  ALSO  CALLED  KIMO 

ROVER  number  two,  or  Kimo,  as  he 
was  called  by  the  Indians,  was  a  beau- 
tiful Newfoundland  dog  given  to  me 
by  the  Kev.  Dr.  Mark,  of  Ottawa, 

My  first  introduction  to  him  was  a  unique 
and  exciting  one.  At  Ottawa  he  was  packed 
in  a  large  box-like  case  and  forwarded  by 
express  to  me  at  the  city  of  Hamilton,  On- 
tario, where  I  was  then  staying  and  making 
my  final  arrangements  for  my  return  to  the 
Red  River.  In  those  days  there  were  three 
changes  necessary  on  the  railroad  between 
Ottawa  and  Hamilton,  and  as  there  were 
long  delays  on  the  route  it  was  the  third  day 
ere  the  dog  arrived  at  his  destination.  No 
one  had  looked  after  him  and  so  he  had  had 
neither  food  nor  drink. 

The  result  was  he  had  become  simply 
furious  with  his  confinement  and  neglect. 
At  Hamilton,  he  acted  so  wildly  and  vio- 
lently that  four  expressmen  were  needed  to 
184 


Rover  II,  also  Called  Kimo         185 

get  him  up  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Sanford. 
The  plan  they  adopted  showed  that  they 
were  much  afraid  of  the  angry  dog.  They 
procured  two  long  pieces  of  scantling,  and 
placing  them  parallel  on  the  ground,  they 
succeeded  in  getting  the  box  on  the  middle. 
Then  each  man  taking  an  end,  they  placed 
the  case,  with  its  contents,  on  a  large  flat 
express  waggon  and  took  it  to  its  destina- 
tion. Here  they  drove  it  into  the  yard,  and 
in  the  same  cautious  way  they  were  lifting 
the  box,  dog  and  all,  to  the  ground,  when 
fortunately  I  happened  to  come  along,  and 
noticing  that  there  was  some  excitement,  I 
naturally  asked  what  was  the  matter. 

The  reply  was  given  in  rather  vigourous 
language,  as  they  described  the  difficulties 
they  had  had  in  bringing  up  that  savage 
dog  to  the  house  from  the  railroad  station. 

"  Is  he  not  securely  boxed  up?  "  was  my 
next  question. 

"  It  is  about  the  '  securely '  of  it,  that  we 
have  been  bothered  "  said  one.  "  The  fact 
is  he  has  been  making  such  desperate  efforts 
to  get  out  of  that  box,  that  we  were  fearful 
that  he  might  succeed,  and  if  he  did — well, 
I  did  not  want  to  be  around  there  just  then." 

I  watched  them  with  a  certain  amount  of 


1 86         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

amusement  as  I  saw  the  actual  terror  of 
these  men,  for  a  glance  showed  me,  that  big 
as  the  dog  was,  he  was  so  securely  fastened 
in  the  great  case  that  he  was  powerless  to 
injure  them. 

After  a  lot  of  delays  and  time-wasting 
movements,  they  succeeded  in  placing  the 
box  on  the  ground  and  then  one  of  them, 
producing  his  express  book  from  his  pocket, 
asked  me  whether  I  knew  who  the  owner  of 
the  dog  was,  or  whether  there  was  some  one 
there  at  the  house  with  sufficient  authority 
to  sign  the  receipt  form  for  the  brute's 
delivery. 

"  The  dog  is  mine,  and  I  will  sign  your 
book,"  I  answered. 

"  The  dog  yours ! "  they  said  in  astonish- 
ment. "  Why  then,  in  all  creation,"  said 
one  of  the  men  to  me,  with  more  amazement 
than  politeness,  "  did  not  you  speak  to  him 
to  quiet  him." 

"  Because,"  I  replied,  "  I  never  saw  the 
dog  before.  He  was  given  to  me  by  a  friend 
in  Ottawa,  and  your  company  or  the  rail- 
way have  kept  him  for  about  three  days  on 
the  route,  and  he  is  now  about  wild,  as  you 
see,  with  hunger,  thirst  and  the  irksome 
confinement." 


Rover  II,  also  Called  Kimo        187 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with 
him?" 

"  First  of  all,"  I  replied,  "  I  am  going  to 
get  him  out  of  that  big  box." 

"Going  to  do  it  alone?"  one  of  them 
asked. 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  I  answered. 

"  Well,  just  wait  until  we  get  out  of  this, 
will  you?  " 

"  Certainly,"  I  replied,  "  but  hurry,  for 
the  poor  dog  has  been  in  there  long  enough." 

So  while  I  made  preparations  to  relieve 
the  dog,  these  four  men  threw  the  scantlings 
on  the  wagon,  and  turning  the  horses 
around,  drove  out  of  the  yard.  Then  shut- 
ting the  high,  close  gate,  they  took  their 
position  on  the  top  of  the  wall  to  see  me 
"  devoured  by  that  dog,"  as  one  of  them 
put  it. 

From  my  knowledge  of  dog  nature,  I  had 
all  confidence  in  the  quick  and  prompt  plan 
I  was  going  to  adopt,  and  which  I  was  not 
long  in  putting  into  practice. 

Going  into  the  kitchen  I  obtained  from 
the  cook  a  generous  dish  of  cold  meat.  The 
gardener  furnished  me  with  an  axe  and  the 
stable  boy  with  a  large  bucket  of  cold  water. 

Placing  the  meat  and  water  where  I  could 


1 88         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

put  my  hand  on  them,  the  instant  I  wanted 
them,  I  quietly  approached  the  box.  Ad- 
dressing the  dog  by  the  name  given  me  in 
Dr.  Mark's  letter,  I  began  to  talk  kindly  to 
him,  and  also  to  vigourously  cut  into  the 
back  of  that  big,  firm  packing  case. 

At  first,  every  blow  and  word  seemed  to 
make  the  dog,  if  possible,  more  wild  and 
furious.  At  every  blow  struck  on  the  out- 
side of  the  box,  he  would  spring  at  the  place 
inside,  until  now  my  fears  were  aroused  lest 
I  should,  as  my  axe  cut  through,  badly  in- 
jure him. 

So  cautiously,  as  well  as  rapidly,  I  rained 
the  blows  upon  the  box  until  piece  after 
piece  began  to  fly  off. 

All  this  time  I  was  talking  to  him,  and 
telling  him  that  he  had  been  treated  most 
shamefully  but  his  troubles  would  soon  be 
over,  that  I  would  soon  have  him  out,  and 
that  I  had  plenty  of  food  and  water  for  him. 

When  the  boards  began  to  split  open  and 
pieces  to  fly  off  from  the  back,  and  Hover 
saw  the  daylight,  for  the  first  time  there, 
coming  in,  there  was  at  once  a  change  in 
him.  Here  he  saw  an  opening  for  his  escape, 
and  in  his  anxiety  to  get  out,  his  growls  and 
angry  barkings  rapidly  moderated. 


Rover  II,  also  Called  Kimo        189 

Still  soothingly  talking  to  him,  I  kept 
cutting  away  until  I  saw  where,  with  a 
strong  wrench  with  my  hand,  I  could  pull 
off  enough  of  the  board  to  get  him  out.  So 
dropping  my  axe  and  placing  the  pail  of 
water  close  at  hand,  I  suddenly  jerked  back 
the  board  and  putting  in  my  hand  I  caught 
the  dog,  now  frantic  with  excitement  at  the 
prospect  of  immediate  deliverance,  by  his 
collar,  and  helped  him  out  of  the  box. 

"  Poor  dog,  it  was  a  shame  to  so  abuse 
you!  Come  along  here  is  a  good  drink  for 
you ! "  and  almost  before  he  knew  where  he 
was,  I  had  his  head  in  that  pail  of  water, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  saw  a  dog 
drink  like  a  horse. 

How  he  did  enjoy  it!  It  seemed  as 
though  he  could  not  have  enough.  When  I 
saw  he  was  about  satisfied,  I  had  my  meat 
dish  handy,  and  I  fed  him  out  of  my  hand, 
piece  after  piece.  It  was  well  there  was  a 
large  supply,  for  he  was  a  big  dog  and  of 
course  very  hungry.  When  thoroughly 
satisfied,  he  looked  around  and  tried  to  take 
in  the  situation.  It  seemed  to  me  that  about 
all  he  just  then  cared  to  realize  was  that  he 
had  been  in  a  horrid  prison,  thirsty  and 
starving,  and  that  I  had  come  as  his  de- 


190        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

liverer.  I  let  him  walk  around  the  yard, 
then  he  went  and  had  a  good  smell  at  that 
now  smashed  prison  house,  and  then  he 
came  to  me.  His  wagging  tail  and  his  great, 
intelligent  eyes,  now  so  full  of  gratitude, 
told  their  own  tale.  We  were  friends,  the 
warmest  of  friends,  from  that  hour  to  the 
end. 

"That  beats  Barnum,"  said  one  of  the 
four  men,  as  they  all  clambered  down  off 
the  wall  and  returned  to  their  work. 

That  evening  Rover  and  I  took  a  long 
walk  through  the  streets  of  the  city  of  Ham- 
ilton. He  kept  close  to  my  heels  and  did 
not  seem  to  desire  to  see  any  other  person 
than  his  new  master  who  had  come  to  his 
rescue  and  deliverance. 

He  was  a  strong,  faithful  dog  to  the  end, 
and  always  happiest  when  I  was  in  sight. 
To  train  him  to  work  as  a  sleigh  dog  all  I 
had  to  do  was  to  harness  him  up  with  three 
trained  dogs  and  then  go  myself  on  ahead 
with  another  train.  That  was  enough  for 
Rover.  He  heard  his  loved  master's  voice  in 
front,  and  his  joy  was  ever  to  respond,  and 
so  on  he  would  come,  and  fleet  indeed  must 
be  the  train  I  was  driving,  or  very  slow  the 


Rover  II,  also  Called  Kimo         191 

dogs  with  which  Rover  was  harnessed,  ere  he 
would  be  left  behind. 

Kover,  like  all  of  my  civilized  dogs,  had 
not  the  hard,  firm,  compact  feet  of  the  Hus- 
kies. Hence,  for  him  and  others,  I  had  to  be 
prepared  to  overcome  this  defect  as  far  as 
possible. 

Various  expedients  have  been  devised,  but 
we  found  that  the  best  plan  was  to  have  a 
large  stock  of  dog-shoes  with  us  on  every 
trip.  These  shoes  were  made  of  a  firmly 
woven  warm  woollen  cloth  called  duffle.  The 
shoes  were  shaped  very  much  like  a  man's 
mitten  without  the  thumb.  They  were  of 
various  sizes  so  as  to  fit  snugly  to  the  in- 
jured foot,  whether  large  or  small. 

Some  winters  there  would  be  compara- 
tively few  injuries  or  frozen  feet  among  my 
dogs.  Then  perhaps  the  very  next  season, 
hardly  a  dog  escaped.  While  as  a  general 
thing  these  injuries  were  confined  to  my  im- 
ported dogs  or  their  descendants,  yet  there 
were  winters  when  almost  every  dog  I  owned 
suffered,  and  all  vied  with  each  other  in 
calls  for  the  comfortable  woollen  shoes  to  be 
put  on  their  feet. 

The  injuries  to  their  feet  from  which  they 


192         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

suffered  were  various.  Sometimes  a  dog 
would  freeze  one  of  his  feet.  When  this  was 
found  out — and  as  a  general  thing  the  dog 
was  not  slow  to  let  us  know  of  his  trouble — 
we  built  a  fire,  and  placing  him  near  it  on  a 
deer  skin,  he,  with  his  tongue  and  the  heat, 
soon  got  the  frost  out  of  it.  When  this  had 
been  accomplished,  we  carefully  tied  a  com- 
fortable shoe  upon  it  and  generally  he  would 
be  all  right  in  a  few  days.  This,  however, 
was  not  always  the  case.  I  have  had  dogs 
with  feet  festered  and  bleeding  for  weeks 
from  these  cruel  freezings.  We  were  thank- 
ful when  we  were  able  to  reach  home  and  let 
the  faithful  animals  rest  for  weeks,  attended 
to  most  skillfully  by  Rover,  the  unique  dog 
doctor,  whose  death  is  recorded  in  the  pre- 
vious chapter.  Some  dogs  have  very  brittle 
nails.  These  are  frequently  breaking  off  in 
the  rough  trails,  or  getting  torn  out  at  the 
roots,  thus  making  an  ugly,  painful  wound. 
The  ice  on  the  great  lakes  and  rivers  is 
sometimes  rough  and  very  trying  to  the 
dogs.  Even  when  it  is  smooth  and  glassy 
it  at  times  affects  them  so  that  the  pads  of 
their  feet  become  sore  and  bleed.  The  soft, 
warm  dog-shoes  were  our  remedies  for  all 
of  these  ills,  and  the  sagacious  dogs  that  had 


Rover  II,  also  Called  Kimo         193 

once  enjoyed  their  benefits,  were  not  slow  in 
demanding  them  when  they  thought  they 
were  in  need  of  them. 

We  had  some  difficulty,  at  first,  in  making 
some  of  the  more  nervous  or  suspicious  dogs 
understand  that  these  shoes  were  for  their 
good.  There  were  those  who  would  endeav- 
our to  tear  them  from  their  feet,  and  had  to 
be  watched  and  even  punished  for  so  doing. 
However,  it  was  not  long  before  even  these, 
having  found  out  the  comfort  there  was  in 
them,  were  now  willing  to  resort  to  all  sorts 
of  schemes  and  expedients  to  induce  us  to 
put  these  comfortable  shoes  on  their  suffer- 
ing feet. 

Rover  soon  became  an  adept  in  asking  for 
his  shoes.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  them 
on  the  one  or  two  feet  that  seemed  to  need 
them.  He  decidedly  thought  that  "  preven- 
tion was  better  than  cure,"  and  so  he  wanted 
shoes  on  all  his  feet,  every  day  we  were  trav- 
elling on  long  journeys.  It  was  interesting 
to  see  how  he  would  wait  until  we  were 
ready  to  harness  up  the  dogs,  then  he  would 
deliberately  throw  himself  on  his  back,  and 
putting  up  his  feet,  eloquently  even  if 
mutely,  thus  plead  for  his  warm  shoes. 

I  did  not  have  him  very  long.    That  fatal 


194        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

scourge  of  the  dogs  of  the  Northland,  the 
distemper,  robbed  me  of  one  of  the  truest, 
noblest  dogs  I  ever  harnessed.  I  made  a 
large  log-heap  fire  and  tried  to  cremate  him, 
but  some  starving  pagan  Indians  dragged 
his  big  body  out  of  the  flames  and  feasted 
on  it.  Poor  old  Rover! 


XIII 

MUFF,  THE  AFFECTIONATE  MOTHER  DOG 

MUFF,  with  two  other  beautiful  St 
Bernard  dogs,  was  given  to  me  by 
Mrs.  Andrew  Allan,  of  Montreal. 
I  received  them  at  the  close  of  a  long  series 
of  lecture  engagements  in  Ontario  and  Que- 
bec, and  ere  the  winter  ended  I  started  on 
my  return  trip  to  my  Mission  home,  which 
was  then  at  Beren's  River  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  Lake  Winnipeg. 

So  anxious  was  I  to  utilize  the  dogs  that 
I  took  Muff  and  Rover,  through  with  me. 
We  travelled  by  rail  to  Morehead  in  Minne- 
sota, and  then  by  stage,  on  runners,  the  last 
two  or  three  hundred  miles,  to  Winnipeg. 
The  other  dogs  received  from  Mrs.  Allan 
were  brought  through  later  in  the  year  by 
Mrs.  Young. 

On  a  railroad  somewhere  in  the  West,  an 

amusing  adventure  occurred  with  the  dogs. 

I  had  left  them  in  the  baggage  car  in  charge 

of  the  baggage  man,  and  had  also  left  with 

195 


1 96        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

him  a  well-filled  basket  of  cooked  meat  for 
their  food.  As  a  precautionary  measure  the 
baggage  man  had  fastened  the  dogs'  chains 
to  a  couple  of  large  trunks. 

For  hours  we  had  sped  along,  and  the 
train  men  and  dogs  had  apparently  become 
great  friends.  All  at  once  I  was  speedily 
aroused  by  the  conductor  rushing  into  the 
long  car  where  I  was  sitting  with  many 
other  passengers,  and  shouting  out : 

"  Where  is  the  gentleman  who  owns  those 
big  dogs  in  the  baggage  car?  " 

Of  course  I  was  instantly  on  my  feet  and 
full  of  wonder  and  concern  about  my  dogs. 

Without  a  word  of  explanation,  the  con- 
ductor, hearing  my  response  that  the  dogs 
were  mine,  at  once  said :  "  Come  with  me  as 
quickly  as  you  can."  The  train  wras,  as 
American  cars  all  are,  open  from  end  to  end, 
and  so  I  speedily  followed  on  after  him. 
When  we  reached  the  baggage  car,  as  we 
opened  the  door  no  explanation  was  needed 
to  tell  what  was  the  matter,  for  there  stood 
the  big  dogs,  now  bravely  defending  the 
trunks  to  which  they  had  been  tied,  and  in 
a  way  that  made  the  stalwart  baggage  man 
keep  at  a  respectful  distance.  It  seems  that 
as  we  were  now  near  to  the  town  where  those 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog    197 

trunks  were  to  be  put  off,  the  baggage  man 
had  attempted  to  remove  the  dogs  to  another 
place  and  then  to  take  possession  of  those 
trunks.  This  the  dogs  would  not  permit, 
and  so,  in  spite  of  all  his  coaxings,  and  then 
threats,  the  dogs  stood  on  their  guard  and 
succeeeded  in  keeping  him  at  bay.  Of 
course,  I  speedily  quieted  the  dogs  and  the 
trunks  were  released. 

At  Winnipeg  I  found  awaiting  me  my  dog 
trains  and  drivers.  As  soon  as  supplies 
could  be  obtained  and  harnesses  made  for 
Muff  and  Eover,  we  started  north.  The 
young  dogs  speedily  became  accustomed  to 
the  work  and  did  well. 

We  reached  our  destination  in  March,  hav- 
ing still  several  weeks  in  which  to  utilize  the 
dogs  at  the  work  which  was  then  engrossing 
my  attention.  This  was  the  hauling  of  logs 
and  timber  from  a  distant  island  out  in  the 
lake  to  the  mainland  where  we  were  estab- 
lishing the  Mission. 

Muff  proved  to  be  a  most  reliable  dog. 
She  was  not  only  powerful  and  enduring  to 
work  in  harness  but  the  traits  she  had  ex- 
hibited in  the  railway  car  were  so  strong  in 
her  that  when  I  wished  to  put  anything 
under  guard  from  prowling  dogs  or  other 


198         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

intruders,  Muff  was  the  guardian  generally 
selected,  and  faithfully  and  well  would  she 
do  her  duty.  Once  put  in  charge  of  the  tools 
or  supplies  of  food  or  left  in  charge  of  the 
campfire,  where  the  men  took  their  meals 
when  out  chopping  wood  in  the  forest,  she 
would  not  allow  any  strange  man  or  dog  to 
come  near. 

It  was  primitive  work,  thus  toiling  with 
my  Indians  in  securing  the  needed  timber 
for  our  houses.  Every  stick  cut  and  hewn 
had  to  be  dragged  by  the  dogs  about  a  dozen 
miles ;  yet  six  dogs  would  take  a  green  stick 
of  spruce  or  balsam  ten  inches  square  and 
thirty-six  feet  long  and  drag  it  at  a  jog-trot 
speed  to  the  place  selected  for  the  erection  of 
our  church  and  parsonage. 

Muff  was  one  of  my  most  willing  dogs. 
Indeed,  she  was  too  eager  and,  as  we  shall 
see,  about  ruined  herself  because  of  it.  She 
became  the  mother  of  some  beautiful  pup- 
pies, and  so  affectionate  were  her  motherly 
instincts  towards  them  that  she  seemed  to 
think  just  as  much  of  them  long  after  they 
were  weaned  and  had  grown  up  into  dogs. 
She  was  unhappy  if  separated  from  them, 
and  fretted  until  she  was  again  among  them. 
This  made  it  a  matter  of  regret  when  she  had 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog    199 

to  be  harnessed  up  and  sent  off  in  trains 
with  other  dogs.  She  would  tug  at  her 
collar  most  desperately  and  was  ever 
anxious  to  be  home  again. 

The  last  long  trip,  on  which  she  almost 
crippled  herself  for  life,  was  one  which  I 
made  into  the  Red  Eiver  Settlement  in  com- 
pany with  my  beloved  fellow  missionary  in 
that  Indian  work,  the  Rev.  John  Senimens. 
We  started  with  a  couple  of  other  mission- 
aries, but  as  they  preferred  to  ride  a  great 
deal,  their  progress  was  much  slower  than 
ours.  We  pushed  on  as  rapidly  as  we 
thought  was  right  and  reached  civilization 
much  sooner  than  they  did  and  thus  escaped 
a  terrible  storm  that  tried  them  and  their 
dogs  and  the  Indian  guides,  most  severely. 

Near  Lower  Fort  Garry  we  were  most 
hospitably  entertained  by  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Sifton  and  his  delightful  family.  There  we 
exchanged  out  leather  suits  for  ministerial 
black  and  in  civilized  costume,  went  up  to 
Winnipeg,  then  a  rising  little  village. 

Here  we  attended  to  the  duties  that  had 
brought  us  into  the  abodes  of  civilization, 
and  then  on  the  following  Saturday  re- 
turned to  Mr.  Sifton's  home,  where  we  had 
left  our  dogtrains  and  Indian  outfits.  We 


200        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

spent  a  very  restful  Sabbath  together,  and 
then  at  midnight  Mrs.  Sifton  had  a  warm 
meal  prepared  for  us  two  missionaries  and 
our  two  faithful  guides  who  were  with  us. 

Mr.  Semmens  and  I  then  retired  to  our 
rooms,  but  soon  after  returned  in  our  cos- 
tumes, so  different  from  our  clerical  black 
that  our  own  mothers  would  hardly  have 
recognized  us.  But  these  suits  in  which  we 
were  now  robed,  although  of  fur  and  moose 
or  reindeer  skin,  were  exactly  suited  for  the 
work  we  were  doing  and  the  life  we  were 
living. 

We  found  that  our  trusty  Indians  had  our 
sleds  carefully  packed,  our  now  well-rested, 
impatient  dogs  harnessed,  and  so  there  was 
nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  commend  this 
kind,  hospitable  family  to  God's  blessing,  to 
say  our  "  Good-byes,"  and  to  be  off. 

It  was  a  bitter  cold  night.  The  wintry 
winds  howled  and  shrieked  and  the  cold 
stars  seemed  to  pity  us.  It  did  seem  hard 
and  cruel  to  leave  that  warm,  cosy  home 
and  be  compelled  to  start  at  one  o'clock  that 
cold  Monday  morning  out  on  our  long,  long 
journey  of  hundreds  of  miles  over  the  snowy 
waste. 

My  home,  fortunately  for  me,  was  then 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog   201 

only  about  two  hundred  miles  distant  but 
my  beloved  friend  had  to  travel  seven  hun- 
dred miles  by  dog  train  ere  he  would  reach 
his  far  away  log  cabin  on  the  Burnt-wood 
River. 

Muff  was  my  sleigh  dog  on  this  trip,  and 
grandly  did  she  do  her  work.  So  wild  was 
she  as  the  days  passed  and  she  knew  that 
she  was  nearing  home  and  her  puppies,  al- 
though they  had  long  since  been  weaned  and 
were  now  quite  fine  large  dogs,  that  it 
seemed  impossible  to  restrain  her.  Our 
loads  were  very  heavy,  averaging  nearly  a 
thousand  pounds  to  each  sled,  as,  of  course, 
we  availed  ourselves  of  these  visits  to  civili- 
zation to  replenish  our  never  overabundant 
supplies. 

The  trained  Indians  run  all  the  time  when 
on  these  trips,  no  matter  whether  the  sleds 
are  loaded  or  not.  As  a  general  thing  we 
missionaries  could  ride  on  the  sleds,  if  they 
were  not  too  heavily  loaded,  when  we 
travelled  on  the  ice.  In  the  woods,  however, 
where  the  snow  was  deep,  everybody  was  ex- 
pected to  walk  on  ahead  in  Indian  file  in 
their  snow-shoes  and  thus  make  the  trail  or 
path  on  which  the  faithful  dogs  dragged  the 
heavy  loads. 


202         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

This  was  very  hard  work,  and  so  a  halt 
was  frequently  called.  As  the  Indians  are 
all  smokers,  of  course  at  these  delays  the 
pipe  was  immediately  filled  and  smoked. 
Some  Hudson's  Bay  traders  were  in  the 
habit  of  marking  the  day  by  saying  it  was  so 
many  "  pipes  "  long,  meaning  that  they  with 
their  Indian  dog-drivers  had  stopped  so 
many  times  to  rest  and  smoke. 

Muff  did  not  like  these  delays.  She  was 
eager  to  be  on  the  "  go  "  continually.  Some- 
times she  would  show  her  spirit  by  refusing 
either  to  lie  down  or  even  to  sit  down  on 
her  haunches  which  is  the  general  custom  of 
the  dogs  when  a  halt  is  called. 

The  instant  the  rest  was  ended  and  the 
journey  was  resumed,  she  was  simply  wild 
with  delight.  In  the  most  frantic  way  would 
she  spring  to  her  work  and  anticipate  the 
movements  of  the  more  sedate  and  less  ex- 
citable dogs. 

Poor  Muff!  alas,  she  did  this  once  too 
often !  For  as  one  bitter  cold  morning  we 
were  about  starting  from  the  camp  where 
the  sled  was  deeply  imbedded  in  the  snow 
and  her  companion  dogs  in  the  train  were 
slow  in  coming  to  her  help,  she  plunged  so 
desperately  at  her  work  that  she  snapped 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog    203 

her  collar  bone.  With  a  pitiful  cry,  that 
sounded  almost  human,  as  she  seemed  to 
realize  her  helplessness,  she  sank  down  in 
her  traces  in  the  snow. 

We  quickly  examined  her,  and  to  our  great 
sorrow  found  that  the  clavicle  was  com- 
pletely broken  and  the  jagged  ends  were  so 
bent  back  and  pressed  into  the  flesh  as, 
doubtless,  to  be  causing  intense  suffering. 

As  gently  as  possible  we  unharnessed  her, 
and  placing  her  on  a  robe  spread  out  in  the 
enow,  we  replaced  the  two  broken  pieces  of 
the  bone  in  position. 

It  must  have  hurt  her  very  much,  but  pa- 
tient, intelligent  Muff  seemed  to  know  that 
we  would  do  the  best  we  could,  and  so  there 
was  not  a  growl  or  any  resistance.  It  was 
but  little  that  we  could  do  for  her  in  such  a 
place,  and  anyway  as  a  sleigh  dog  she  was 
completely  worthless  to  us  now. 

What  is  to  be  done?  was  the  question. 
The  Indians  only  thought  of  the  one  plan 
that  was  the  universal  one  among  them 
when  such  an  accident  happened  under  simi- 
lar circumstances.  That  was  to  kill  the  dog 
at  once  and  go  on  with  the  thus  diminished 
train.  We  had  known  Hudson's  Bay  traders 
to  start  off  on  a  long  trip  with  sixteen  dogs 


204        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

and  come  back  with  only  twelve.  The  other 
four  had  met  with  accidents  and  had  to  be 
killed.  The  general  way  of  disposing  of  a 
dog  thus  injured  was  to  have  one  of  the  In- 
dians kill  him  with  one  swift  blow  of  the 
heavy  axe. 

Never  imagining  that  any  other  fate 
than  this  was  in  store  for  Muffy,  one  of  the 
Indians  had  quietly  unfastened  the  largest 
axe  from  one  of  the  sleds  and  with  his  com- 
rade was  now  only  awaiting  my  orders  to 
kill  my  unfortunate  dog. 

"  Put  up  your  axe,"  I  almost  shouted. 
"  That  may  be  your  way  but  it  is  not  mine. 
Muff  is  not  going  to  be  killed  if  I  can  help 
it." 

Wondering  what  I  was  going  to  do,  they 
put  up  the  axe  and  then,  as  I  ordered,  they 
gently  lifted  the  wounded  dog  into  my  car- 
iole,  and  there  among  the  robes  we  laid  her 
down  in  as  comfortable  a  position  as  pos- 
sible. We  got  her  home  all  right.  But  it 
meant  that  I  had  to  walk  or  run  as  did  my 
Indian  guide  as  least  one  hundred  miles. 
It  was  very  fatiguing  and  exhausting  work. 

The  two  nights  we  had  to  camp,  Muff 
shared  with  me  my  camp  bed  among  the  fur 
robes. 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog   205 

During  our  last  night's  peculiar  adven- 
ture on  that  journey,  Muff  showed  that  even 
if  suffering  from  a  broken  clavicle,  she  was 
still  the  alert  and  vigilant  watch-dog. 

When  we  had  reached  a  point  about 
twenty  miles  from  my  mission  house,  night 
was  coming  on.  The  stars  were  beginning 
to  shine  and  the  spectral  auroras  were  flash- 
ing their  cold  and  ghostly  lights  athwart  the 
northern  skies.  The  question  of  camping  or 
going  on  had  been  debated  as  we  had 
stopped  where  we  had  found  a  little  dry 
wood.  Making  a  fire  on  a  spot  from  which 
our  snow-shoes  had  scraped  away  the  snow, 
we  made  some  refreshing  tea  for  ourselves. 

The  Indians  and  myself  were  eager  to 
push  on  and  finish  the  journey,  even  if  we 
were  very  tired  and  footsore.  But  my  be- 
loved brother  missionary  was  about  done 
out  As  his  sled  was  heavily  loaded  with 
supplies  for  his  distant  mission,  he  had 
bravely  kept  steps  with  the  best  Indian  run- 
ners and  had  ridden  but  very  little  indeed. 
As  a  natural  result,  his  feet  were  swollen 
and  blistered,  and  every  bone  and  muscle  in 
his  body  seemed  to  cry  for  rest.  So  when  he 
saw  that  we  were  resolved  on  continuing 
the  journey  until  we  reached  our  home 


ao6        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

rather  than  go  to  the  worrj^  and  trouble  of 
preparing  another  winter  camp,  he  cried  out 
in  his  agony: 

"  Throw  me  out  a  blanket  and  some  pem- 
mican  and  let  me  stay  here.  I  can  go  no 
farther.  You  have  your  wives  and  children 
to  lure  you  on  but  I  have  none.  Go  on  and 
leave  me  here." 

"  No,  indeed,  my  brother,"  I  said,  "  we 
are  going  on,  but  we  are  not  going  to  leave 
you  here.  I  have  a  better  plan  than  that." 

"Well,  do  what  you  like,  but  I  cannot 
walk  any  farther  to-night."  And  saying 
this,  he  threw  himself  down  on  the  ice  in  his 
weariness  and  pain. 

Very  quickly  did  I  arrange  my  plans. 
Telling  two  Indians  to  bring  the  axes  and 
their  snowshoes,  we  walked  towards  the 
woods  until  we  found  a  drift  of  snow,  packed 
hard  and  firm  by  the  successive  winds,  blow- 
ing in  from  the  lake. 

On  this  we  set  to  work,  and  by  chopping 
the  snow  and  then  throwing  it  out  with  our 
snowshoe  shovels,  we  soon  had  a  large  hole 
about  four  feet  across  and  as  many  feet  deep. 
Then  my  dog  train  of  three  dogs  was  driven 
along  side  of  this  and  the  sled  unloaded. 

We  first  threw  into  this  hole  in  the  snow, 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog   207 

some  robes.  Arranging  them  in  position, 
we  there  carefully  deposited  Muff.  We  so 
arranged  the  top  buffalo  skin  that  she  was 
well  covered  up  except  her  head.  Then  we 
carefully  piled  around  her  the  heavy  articles 
of  our  load,  and  left  her  in  charge. 

As  great  northern  wolves  were  sometimes 
known  to  infest  that  part  of  the  country, 
my  Indians  and  I  tramped  around  a  good 
deal  in  the  snow.  We  did  this  to  keep  the 
wolves  away,  as  they  are  very  suspicious 
about  human  tracks  that  are  under  twenty- 
four  hours  old,  and  I  knew  that  in  less  than 
that  time  I  would  have  Muff  relieved. 

Muff  having  been  thus  well  attended  to,  I 
drove  my  dog-sled  alongside  of  my  tired  out 
beloved  brother,  and  with  the  aid  of  my  In- 
dians, placed  him  on  my  sled  and  carefully 
wrapped  him  up  in  robes.  At  once  he  fell 
into  a  dreamless  sleep. 

Then  we  resumed  our  journey.  We  did 
not  travel  very  fast.  We  were  very  weary, 
as  before  beginning  this  home  stretch  of 
twenty  miles,  we  had  already  travelled  sixty 
or  seventy  miles  that  day.  However,  the 
longest  journey  has  an  end  and  so  had  this 
one. 

We  met  with  a  cordial  reception  when  we 


ao8         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

could  get  the  sleeping  ones  awake,  who  little 
expected  us  at  the  unseemly  hour  at  which 
we  arrived. 

The  tired  missionary  was  aroused  from 
his  deep  sleep.  His  wounds  were  soothed 
with  ointment.  Then  a  hot  bath  and  a 
warm  supper  were  both  enjoyed  and  then 
the  comfortable  bed,  in  which  he  had  twelve 
hours  of  blessed  sleep  without  once  waking. 
But  when  he  did  again  join  us  he  was  re- 
freshed and  renewed  in  spirits  and  in  bodily 
vigour,  and  once  again  he  was  the  same 
genial,  delightful  man. 

Muff,  however,  was  in  the  meantime  not 
forgotten.  No  sooner  were  we  safely  at 
home  and  the  wants  of  the  missionaries  and 
the  splendid  Indian  comrades  and  dogs 
looked  after,  than  I  gave  instructions  that 
Kennedy,  my  faithful  man  of  all  work  about 
the  mission,  should  be  off  with  a  fresh  train 
of  strong  dogs  to  bring  home  both  Muff  and 
the  supplies  she  was  guarding. 

He  started  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  so  reached  her  about  daylight.  But 
strange  to  say  Muff  at  first  would  not  let 
him  touch  her  or  any  of  the  supplies.  This 
very  much  annoyed  Kennedy  and  he  was  in- 
clined to  fight  her,  but  he  was  a  kind  hearted 


Muff,  the  Affectionate  Mother  Dog    209 

man  and  I  had  told  him  of  her  sad  accident. 
So  he  had  to  put  his  Indian  wits  to'  work, 
and  the  plan  which  he  adopted  and  which 
proved  successful  was  to  unharness  a  couple 
of  his  dogs  that  were  trusty  and  let  them 
run  to  where  Muff  was  still  so  watchfully 
guarding  the  supplies  left  in  her  charge. 
The  affectionate  dogs  were  fond  of  Muff, 
and  as  they,  regardless  of  her  growls,  which 
at  first  she  tried  to  keep  up,  rushed  up  to 
her,  she  seemed  quickly  to  realize  that  they 
and  Kennedy  were  her  friends,  and  her  op- 
position ceased. 

About  noon  she  was  safely  installed  in  a 
cosy  spot  in  the  kitchen.  The  bones  over- 
lapped a  little  and  then  knit  together.  Of 
course  I  never  took  her  again  on  a  long  trip, 
but  she  did  some  work  in  light  trains  about 
the  place,  and  her  many  puppies  developed 
into  strong,  splendid  dogs,  and  so  I  was  glad 
that  I  had  not  killed  her  at  the  time  of  the 
accident,  as  my  Indians  thought  that  I 
ought  to  have  done. 


XIV 

CAESAR,  THE  CLEVER  RASCAL 

C2ESAK  was  a  mongrel  dog  with  St. 
Bernard    and    Eskimo    blood    in    his 
veins.    He  was  a  large,  powerful  dog 
and  able  to  do  any  amount  of  work,  but  he 
was  a  cunning  shirk  and  required  constant 
watching  or,  while  making  a  great  pretence 
in  his  traces,  he  would  not  be  drawing  a 
pound. 

From  his  early  puppyhood  days  he  was 
full  of  tricks.  One  that  I  saw  him  per- 
form when  he  was  only  four  months  old 
very  much  amused  me.  Unknown  to  him  I 
watched  the  whole  performance  from  my 
study  window.  It  was  in  the  winter  and 
the  snow  was  deep  upon  the  ground.  In- 
dian men  were  busily  engaged  with  my  dog 
trains  in  dragging  from  the  distant  forest 
the  yearly  supply  of  wood  required  for  our 
church,  parsonage,  and  school-house.  Bear- 
ing in  mind  the  length  and  severity  of  the 
winters  in  that  cold  Northland,  and  that  we 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  21 1 

had  no  coal,  it  will  be  seen  at  once  that  we 
required  a  very  large  quantity.  So  in  se- 
curing the  needed  supply  there  was  much 
labour  for  both  men  and  dogs. 

During  this  hard  work  of  dragging  home 
these  heavy  loads  of  wood,  the  dogs  were  fed 
on  what  were  called  full  rations,  which  was, 
two  good  white  fish  each  a  day.  Martin 
Papanekis,  one  of  the  most  trustworthy  serv- 
ants a  man  ever  employed,  had  the  oversight 
of  the  work  and  was  specially  responsible 
for  seeing  that  the  dogs  were  well  looked 
after  and  that  each  one  received  his  full  ra- 
tions. This  was  a  matter  that  had  to  be  at- 
tended to  at  each  feeding  time.  If  it  was  ne- 
glected and  the  greatest  vigilance  not  exer- 
cised, the  more  powerful  and  greedy  dogs 
would  quickly  rob  the  weaker  ones.  As  the 
fish  were  frozen  like  rocks,  Martin's  usual 
plan  was  to  place,  in  the  morning,  a  dozen  of 
these  large  fish  in  a  sheet-iron  square  pan 
under  our  kitchen  stove.  The  rest  required 
were  thawed  elsewhere.  The  heat  of  the 
stove  would  not  only  thaw  out  these  fish,  but 
by  the  time  they  were  required  in  the  eve- 
ning when  the  dogs  had  finished  their  day's 
work,  they  were  half  cooked  and  thus  ren- 
dered much  more  palatable  to  the  dogs. 


212        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

One  evening,  when  Martin  had  brought 
home  his  last  load  of  wood  and  unharnessed 
the  six  splendid  dogs  he  had  been  using,  he 
naturally  looked  under  the  big  stove  for  the 
fish.  Not  finding  them  there,  he  turned  to 
the  Indian  servant  girl  and  demanded  of 
her  what  she  had  done  with  his  dogs'  fish. 

Mary  was  quick  tempered  and  not  liking 
the  tone  in  which  Martin  had  spoken  to  her 
about  his  fish,  petulantly  replied : 

"  I  wanted  to  scrub  my  kitchen  floor  and 
as  your  dirty  smelling  fish  were  in  the  way, 
I  shoved  them,  pan  and  all,  out  of  doors." 

This  answer  made  Martin  very  angry,  but 
in  his  anxiety  to  look  after  his  dogs'  supper, 
he  without  reply  rushed  out  in  search  of  the 
missing  fish.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  find- 
ing the  big  square  pan,  but  there  was  not  a 
fish  in  it.  Around  it  were  gathered  his 
hungry,  disconsolate  dogs,  but  while  there 
was  the  generally  well-filled  pan,  it  was  now 
as  destitute  of  food  as  the  historic  cupboard 
of  the  famous  Old  Mother  Hubbard. 

The  puzzling  question  then  was:  What 
has  become  of  the  dozen  of  large  fish?  All 
the  other  dogs  were  being  fed  elsewhere  and 
the  only  loose  dog  around  was  the  little  in- 
significant puppy,  that  they  were  beginning 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  213 

to  call  Caesar.  And  yet  that  little  puppy 
called  Caesar,  small  as  he  then  was,  had 
carried  away  and  most  cunningly  buried  all 
those  missing  fish — and  I  had  been  the 
amused  spectator  of  the  whole  transaction. 

How  had  he  done  it?  About  an  hour  be- 
fore I  had,  from  my  study  window,  observed 
Mary  the  Indian  servant  girl,  shove  the  large 
pan  of  fish  out  of  the  kitchen  door.  Shortly 
after  I  heard  the  most  comical  howlings 
imaginable.  These  odd  sounds,  of  course, 
at  once  excited  my  curiosity,  and  on  going 
to  the  window  to  investigate,  there  was  be- 
fore me  a  most  amusinp:  sight.  The  puppy 
had  literally  taken  possession  of  that  whole 
pan  of  fish.  He  would  stand  on  one  side  of 
them  and  howl  for  gladness.  Then  he 
would  march  around  the  whole  and  have 
another  howl  of  delight.  He  was  simply 
wild  with  joy  at  being  the  undisputed  pos- 
sessor of  such  an  unlimited  supply  of  food. 
He  was  too  much  delighted  even  to  begin  to 
eat.  The  fact  of  being  "  monarch  of  all  he 
surveyed  "  was  quite  enough  bliss  for  him. 

But  what  was  that?  He  heard  the  dis- 
tant barkings  of  dogs  and  at  once  his  whole 
demeanour  changed.  He  seemed  at  once  to 
be  conscious  that  he  was  in  danger  of  losing 


214         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

his  great  prize,  and  realized  that  if  he  was 
going  to  keep  possession  of  it,  he  must  speed- 
ily hide  it  away  from  all  intruders. 

And  young  puppy  though  he  was,  he  be- 
gan most  vigourously  at  his  work.  Seizing 
the  fish  nearest  to  him  by  the  head,  he 
dragged  it  perhaps  fifty  feet  away  to  a  spot 
where  the  snow  was  deep  and  light.  Here 
writh  his  little  paws  he  set  to  work,  and  soon 
had  a  hole  large  enough,  into  which  he  skill- 
fully pushed  the  fish.  Then  with  his  nose, 
he  carefully  covered  it  up  with  the  light  dry 
snow.  Quickly  rushing  back  to  the  pan,  he 
seized  hold  of  another  one,  and  dragging  it 
in  another  direction,  he  buried  it  in  a  similar 
manner.  Thus  the  plucky  little  fellow 
worked  unceasingly  until  he  had  the  whole 
dozen  of  those  large  white-fish  thus 
"  cached  "  away  in  different  places.  So 
cunningly  had  he  hidden  them  that  there 
was  not  the  slightest  trace  of  his  work  vis- 
ible. 

When  Martin  returned  with  his  dogs  and 
as  usual  unharnessed  them  in  the  yard, 
Caesar  had  the  meekest  look  imaginable. 
He  was  too  guileless  for  anything.  Then 
when  the  hungry  dogs  discovered  the  empty 
fish  pan  still  rich  with  the  fragrance  of  the 


Cassar,  the  Clever  Rascal  2 1 5 

fish  which  were  not  there,  the  young  hypo- 
crite coolly  seemed  to  sympathize  with  them 
in  the  loss  of  their  supper.  It  was  indeed 
most  consummate  acting.  It  was  amusing, 
however,  when  I  went  out  and  told  Martin 
what  I  had  witnessed  from  my  study  win- 
dow. The  worry  about  his  dogs'  supper  left 
his  face  at  once,  and  he  shrewdly  remarked : 

"  Well,  that  pup  will  make  a  clever  dog, 
perhaps  too  clever  sometimes  for  his  driver." 

Prophetic  words  were  these,  and  remem- 
bered in  after  days. 

The  question  now  however  was,  how  are 
the  hungry  dogs  to  get  those  buried  fish? 

"  Very  easily,"  said  Martin.  "  See  how  I 
will  make  the  little  thief  tell  in  his  own  way, 
where  he  has  '  cached '  them."  Quietly 
calling  one  of  the  hungry  dogs  to  follow  him, 
Martin  started  off  to  a  spot  where  the  snow 
looked  as  though  it  had  recently  been  dis- 
turbed. 

Marvellous  and  sudden  was  the  transfor- 
mation in  Caesar.  His  assumed  meekness 
suddenly  left  him,  and  now,  with  neck  hair 
ruffled  and  tail  stiffly  curled  up,  the  gritty 
little  fellow  is  going  to  fight  for  what  cost 
him  such  trouble  to  secure. 

When  Martin  stopped  before  the  "  cache," 


216        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

ere  he  had  stirred  a  snow  flake,  the  brave 
little  dog  sprang  before  him  and  planting 
himself  upon  the  spot,  began  growling  most 
comically.  One  word  to  the  big  dog  at  Mar- 
tin's heels  was  sufficient  and  with  a  rush  he 
fairly  tumbled  the  little  fellow  over  in  the 
snow,  and  then  quickly  dug  up  the  fish. 

Speedily  were  the  other  dogs  sent  smell- 
ing round,  and  soon  fish  after  fish  was  re- 
covered. 

Poor  little  Caesar  was  simply  frantic.  He 
rushed  from  cache  to  cache,  but  all  in  vain. 
The  dogs  were  too  much  for  him,  and  al- 
though none  of  them  would  bite  the  little 
fellow,  yet  the  frequent  tumblings  he  got  in 
the  deep  snow  very  much  ruffled  his  dignity. 
In  spite  of  all  his  cleverness  and  trouble,  he 
lost  all  of  his  fish,  and  later  on  in  the  eve- 
ning he  was  humble  enough  to  come  to  the 
kitchen  door  and  beg  for  some  supper.  This 
was  freely  given  to  him  as  a  small  return  for 
the  amusement  he  had  afforded. 

Caesar  grew  to  be  a  large,  strong  dog  and 
in  due  time  was  broken  in  to  harness.  I 
had  some  trouble  in  breaking  him  in  to  work. 
He  was  stubborn  and  obstinate.  He  would 
throw  himself  down  on  the  ground  and 
would  let  the  dogs  in  front  of  him  drag  him 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal          217 

in  that  way  for  hundreds  of  yards.  He 
cared  but  little  for  the  whip,  and  under  its 
infliction  would  lie  down  and  sulk. 

However,  at  length  I  thought  of  a  plan 
which  when  tried  proved  successful,  not  only 
in  his  case  but  in  that  of  many  other  dogs 
that  were  at  first  not  disposed  to  take  kindly 
to  the  harness. 

My  dogs  were  generally  harnessed  in  tan- 
dem style.  When  breaking  in  a  young  dog, 
I  usually  had  three  powerful  old  animals 
harnessed  in  front  of  him,  and  one  or  even 
two  good  dogs  behind  him.  This  was  the 
plan  I  tried  with  Caesar.  The  dog  I  had 
harnessed  immediately  behind  him  was  Jack. 
It  is  hardly  needless  to  say  that  of  him  every 
dog  stood  in  dread,  when  once  his  ominous 
growls  were  heard.  Harnessing  Caesar  up 
in  this  powerful  train,  I  then  shouted, 
"  Marche ! "  and  the  sport  began.  Caesar 
was  as  obstinate  as  he  could  be.  First  he 
made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to  get  out  of 
his  harness.  But  against  this  I  had  care- 
fully guarded.  A  dog  that  has  once  suc- 
ceeded in  squeezing  himself  out  of  his  har- 
ness, when  being  broken  in,  is  likely  to  try 
the  trick  again,  where  perhaps  his  escape 
may  be  most  annoying  and  inconvenient. 


2i8         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Foiled  in  his  efforts  in  this  direction,  he 
next  tried  the  obstinate  dodge  of  balking. 
He  threw  himself  on  the  snow  and,  refusing 
to  move,  was  dragged  along  by  the  three 
strong  dogs  in  front  of  him.  It  was  now 
high  time  for  Jack  to  interfere,  and  so  I 
shouted :  "  Shake  him,  Jack !  "  Permission 
was  all  that  Jack  had  been  waiting  for.  With 
a  roar  like  a  lion  he  sprang  at  the  obstinate 
Caesar,  harnessed  directly  in  front  of  him, 
and,  seizing  him  by  the  back,  gave  him  a 
good  shaking.  Poor  Csesar,  securely  har- 
nessed up  and  being  dragged  along  by  dogs 
in  front  was  powerless  to  resist,  yet  so  ob- 
stinate was  he,  that  he  took  that  shaking 
without  yielding.  The  fact  is,  I  don't  think 
Jack  hurt  him  very  much.  But  he  must  be 
conquered  and  so  I  shouted  to  Jack :  "  Go 
for  him  again !  " 

This  time  Jack  adopted  an  entirely  differ- 
ent method,  and  one  that  proved  completely 
successful.  Instead  of  seizing  hold  of 
Caesar's  great  body,  he  began  nipping,  with 
his  sharp  teeth,  at  his  legs  and  feet,  that 
were  stretched  out  behind,  as  the  dogs  in 
front  were  dragging  him  along. 

Jack  must  now  have  bitten  him  pretty 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  219 

vigourously,  for  before  he  had  received  more 
than  half  a  dozen  nips,  he  sprang  up  and 
with  howls  of  rage  and  fear  started  off  with 
such  speed  that  if  Jack  had  not  held  him 
back,  he  would  have  run  over  the  dogs  in 
front  of  him.  A  few  more  lessons  were  all 
that  were  necessary  and  then  Caesar  became 
one  of  my  best  dogs.  But  he  had  some  tricka 
that  he  liked  to  play  off  when  he  dared,  and 
so,  although  he  was  a  very  clever  dog,  he 
was  one  that  was  better  for  being  well 
watched  and  rather  sternly  handled.  Still 
I  was  fond  of  him  and  travelled  thousands 
of  miles  with  him  as  one  of  my  train.  Yet 
even  to  the  last  he  was  sometimes  too  clever 
for  me,  as  the  following  incident  will  show. 
I  had  extended  the  borders  of  my  mission 
field  until  it  was  now  larger  than  many  a 
State.  Over  this  large  domain  I  travelled  in 
summer  in  my  birch  canoe.  But  from  Octo- 
ber until  May,  the  only  possible  way  of  com- 
munication except  by  going  on  foot,  was  by 
dog  travelling.  With  thousands  of  miles  of 
travel  every  winter  thus  before  me,  through 
those  unbeaten  wilds,  it  can  be  seen  why  I 
was  so  anxious  to  secure  the  best  dogs  pos- 
sible. Even  with  the  very  best  I  could  ob- 


220        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

tain,  there  were  times  when  some  of  them 
would  sadly  disappoint  me,  as  cunning 
Caesar  did  on  this  occasion. 

I  was  making  a  journey  to  one  of  my  re- 
mote stations  where  the  route  was  very 
heavy.  My  sleds  were  fully  loaded,  as  the 
people  to  whom  I  was  going  were  very  poor, 
and  as  yet  not  any  too  friendly  towards  the 
missionary.  So  as  a  precautionary  meas- 
ure, I  was  loaded  with  sufficient  supplies  for 
both  the  outward  and  homeward  trip.  Be- 
fore starting,  I  had  kept  my  dogs  in  their 
kennels  and  had  fed  them  up  until  they  were 
all  in  first-class  condition.  So  in  good  spirits 
we  began  the  long  journey  of  several  hun- 
dred miles.  Soon,  however,  we  all  began  to 
feel  the  effects  of  the  toilsome  way  through 
the  deep  snow.  There  was  not  the  faintest 
trace  of  a  road  or  path.  It  was  uphill  and 
downhill;  over  rocks  and  fallen  trees;  now 
struggling  through  dense  underbrush  and 
then  across  rough  frozen  muskegs.  And  the 
snow  was  everywhere ;  a  great  mantle  of  the 
purest  whiteness  covering  everything  to  a 
depth  of  from  three  to  six  feet,  and  through 
it  we  struggled  on  and  on  for  days  and  days. 
With  axes  on  our  shoulders  and  snow-shoes 
on  our  feet,  the  men  of  our  party  pushed  on 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal          221 

ahead  to  make  some  sort  of  a  trail  along 
which  the  dogs  could  drag  the  heavy  loads. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  men  and  dogs  be- 
gan to  feel  the  strain  of  such  continuous 
hardships  and  that  all  of  them  were  much 
reduced  in  weight  and  flesh?  There  was, 
however,  one  notable  exception,  and  that 
one  was  Caesar.  He  retained  his  spirits  and 
his  flesh  in  a  remarkable  degree.  Day  after 
day  whenever  I  looked  at  him  he  was  so 
alert  and  active,  that  no  suspicions  were 
aroused  of  any  clever  shirking  on  his  part. 
Still  as  on  we  plodded  over  the  dreadful 
route,  Cffisar  kept  getting  fatter  than  ever, 
while  all  the  other  dogs  were  sadly  showing 
their  ribs  and  lessening  weight.  First  I 
thought  that  perhaps  the  cunning  fellow 
was  stealing  from  our  supplies  at  night 
while  we  slept,  but  this  was  found  to  be  an 
impossibility.  So  all  I  could  do  was  to 
keep  my  eyes  upon  him  and  keep  him  doing 
his  best.  Grandly  would  he  tug  at  his 
collar  and  with  his  tongue  out  and  panting 
he  would  seem  to  say :  "  What  dog  can  do 
more  than  I  am  doing?  " 

Still,  as  he  showed  no  sign  of  weariness 
when  the  day's  work  was  done,  while  the 
other  dogs  seemed  so  tired  and  exhausted,  I 


222         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

resolved  to  try  some  plan  that  would  malie 
him  betray  himself,  if  he  was  really  fooling 
us.  This  I  did  the  next  day,  by  fastening 
the  separate  traces  which  I  gave  him,  with 
some  rotten  packthread.  I  had  to  be  care- 
ful to  hold  on  to  them  while  he  started,  for 
then  he  always  made  a  big  fuss.  However, 
when  he  had  settled  down  to  his  usual  work, 
fancy  my  surprise  to  see  him  tearing  along, 
as  though  he  were  doing  the  most  of  the 
heavy  work,  when  the  fact  was,  he  did  not 
pull  enough  to  break  that  rotten  pack 
thread! 

I  quietly  called  the  attention  of  my  In- 
dian companions  to  his  clever  hypocrisy. 
They  all  laughed  at  it  and  declared  it  was 
one  of  the  cutest  bits  of  shirking  they  had 
ever  seen.  Caesar's  castigation,  then  and 
there  received,  deterred  him  from  ever  try- 
ing that  trick  again. 

Caesar  was  one  of  the  few  dogs  that  I 
owned  that  never  was  sick  or  out  of  con- 
dition. Accidents  and  various  disasters 
were  constantly  arising  and  many  a  good 
dog  would  be  suddenly  rendered  unfit  for 
service.  But  nothing  ever  happened  to  old 
Caesar.  He  would  never  over-strain  or  over- 
heat himself  for  anybody.  So  he  came  at 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  223 

last  to  be  called  "  Old  Reliable,"  and  any 
good  driver,  who  was  clever  enough  to  see 
through  his  tricks,  could  get  a  lot  of  work 
out  of  him. 

But  through  all  the  years  I  owned  him 
he  would  always  bear  watching.  Out  of 
harness  as  well  as  in  it,  he  was  up  to  tricks 
and  schemes,  some  of  which  seem  so  in- 
credible, that  if  they  had  not  been  observed 
by  reliable  witnesses,  we  should  hesitate  to 
record  them  here.  The  following  incident 
of  Caesar's  cleverness,  showing  his  posses- 
sion of  reasoning  powers  in  a  remarkable  de- 
gree for  a  dog,  was  well  known  by  a  number 
of  persons  and  was  much  talked  about  at 
the  time. 

It  occurred  in  the  spring  of  the  year  when 
the  snow  melting  on  the  land  with  the  first 
rains  had  swollen  our  creeks  and  rivers  into 
torrents.  On  the  great  lake  before  our 
northern  home  the  ice  was  still  a  great  solid 
mass,  several  feet  in  thickness.  Near  our 
home  was  one  of  these  swollen,  rapi 
streams  that,  rushing  down  into  the  lak 
had  cut  a  delta  of  open  water  in  the  ice  a 
its  mouth.  In  this  open  place  my  faithfu 
servant,  Martin  Papanekis,  had  placed  a  gill 
net  for  the  purpose  of  catching  fish.  Liv- 


My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

ing  as  we  did  all  winter  principally  upon  the 
fish  caught  the  previous  October  or  Novem- 
ber and  kept  frozen  for  several  months, 
hung  up  in  the  open  air,  we  were  naturally 
pleased  to  get  fresh  ones  out  of  the  open 
water  in  the  spring.  Martin  had  so  ar- 
ranged his  net  by  fastening  a  couple  of  ropes 
about  sixty  feet  long,  one  at  each  end,  that 
when  it  was  securely  fastened  at  each  side 
of  the  stream,  it  was  carried  out  into  this 
open  delta-like  space  by  the  force  of  the  cur- 
rent, and  there  hung  like  the  capital  letter 
U.  The  upper  side  of  this  net  was  kept  in 
position  by  light  wood  floats,  while  medium- 
sized  stones  as  sinkers  steadied  it  below. 
Every  morning  Papanekis  took  a  basket, 
and  followed  by  all  the  dogs  of  the  kennels, 
visited  his  net.  Placed  in  the  manner  we 
have  described,  it  required  no  canoe  or 
boat  in  order  to  overhaul  and  take  from 
it  the  fish  there  caught.  All  he  had  to 
do  was  to  seize  hold  of  the  rope  at  the  end 
fastened  on  the  shore  and  draw  it  toward 
him.  As  he  kept  pulling  in,  the  deep  bend 
in  it  gradually  straightened  out  until  the 
net  was  reached.  His  work  was  now  to  se- 
cure the  fish  as  he  gradually  drew  in  the  net 
and  coiled  it  at  his  feet.  The  width  of  the 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal          225 

opening  in  the  water  being  about  sixty  feet, 
the  result  was  that  when  he  had  in  this  way 
overhauled  his  net  he  had  reached  the  end  of 
the  rope  attached  to  the  other  side.  When 
the  fish  were  secured,  all  Papanekis  had  to 
do  to  reset  the  net  was  to  throw  some  of  it 
out  in  the  right  position  in  the  stream. 
Here  the  force  of  the  running  waters  soon 
carried  the  whole  net  down  into  the  open 
place  as  far  as  the  two  ropes  fastened  on  the 
shores  would  permit.  Papanekis,  after 
placing  the  best  fish  in  his  basket  for  con- 
sumption in  the  mission  house,  and  for  his 
own  family,  divided  what  was  left  among 
the  eager  dogs  that  had  accompanied  him. 
This  work  went  on  for  several  days,  and  the 
supply  of  fish  continued  to  increase,  much 
to  our  satisfaction. 

One  day  Papanekis  came  into  my  study 
in  a  state  of  great  perturbation.  He  was 
generally  such  a  quiet,  stoical  sort  of  an  In- 
dian that  I  was  at  once  attracted  by  his 
mental  disquietude.  On  asking  the  reason 
why  he  was  so  troubled,  he  at  once  blurted 
out: 

"  Master,  there  is  some  strange  animal 
visiting  our  net ! " 

In  answer  to  my  request  for  particulars, 


226         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

he  replied  that  for  some  mornings  past  when 
he  went  to  visit  it,  he  found,  entangled  in 
the  meshes,  several  heads  of  white-fish.  Yet 
the  net  was  always  in  its  right  position  in 
the  water.  On  my  suggestion  that  perhaps 
otters,  fishers,  minks  or  other  fish-eating 
animals  might  have  done  the  work,  he  most 
emphatically  declared  that  he  knew  the 
habits  of  all  these  and  all  other  animals  liv- 
ing on  fish,  and  it  was  utterly  impossible  for 
any  of  them  to  have  thus  done  this  work. 
The  mystery  continuing  for  several  morn- 
ings, Papanekis  became  frightened  and 
asked  me  to  get  some  other  fisherman  in  his 
place,  as  he  was  afraid  longer  to  visit  the 
net.  He  had  talked  the  matter  over  with 
other  Indians,  and  they  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  either  a  "  windegoo "  was 
at  the  bottom  of  it  or  the  "  meechee  mun- 
edoo  "  (the  devil).  I  laughed  at  his  fears, 
and  told  him  I  would  help  him  to  try  and 
find  out  who  or  what  it  was  that  was  giving 
us  this  trouble.  I  went  with  him  to  the 
place,  where  we  carefully  examined  both 
sides  of  the  stream  for  evidences  of  the 
clever  thief.  The  only  tracks  visible  were  his 
own  and  those  of  the  many  dogs  that  followed 
him  to  be  fed  each  morning.  About  two  or 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  227 

thr««  hundred  yards  north  of  the  spot  wher« 
he  overhauled  the  net  there  rose  a  small 
abrupt  hill,  densely  covered  with  spruce  bal- 
sam trees.  On  visiting  it,  we  found  that  a 
person  there  securely  hid  from  observation, 
could  with  care  easily  overlook  the  whole 
locality.  At  my  suggestion,  Papanekis  with 
his  axe  there  arranged  a  sort  of  a  nest  or 
lookout.  Orders  were  then  given  that  he 
and  another  Indian  man  should,  before  day- 
break on  the  next  morning,  make  a  long  de- 
tour and  cautiously  reach  that  spot  from 
the  rear,  and  there  carefully  conceal  them- 
selves. This  they  succeeded  in  doing,  and 
there,  in  perfect  stillness,  they  waited  for 
the  morning.  As  soon  as  it  was  possible  to 
see  anything  they  were  on  the  alert.  For 
some  time  they  watched  in  vain.  They 
eagerly  scanned  every  point  of  vision,  and 
for  a  time  could  observe  nothing  unusual. 
"  Hush !  "  said  one;  "  see  that  dog!  " 
It  was  Caesar,  cautiously  skulking  along 
the  trail.  He  would  frequently  stop  and 
sniff  the  air.  Fortunately  for  the  Indian 
watchers,  the  wind  was  blowing  toward 
them,  and  so  the  dog  did  not  catch  their 
scent.  On  he  came,  in  a  quiet  yet  swift 
gait,  until  he  reached  the  spot  where  Papan- 


2a8         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

ekis  stood  when  he  pulled  in  the  net.  He 
gave  one  searching  glance  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  then  he  set  to  work.  Seizing  the 
rope  in  his  teeth,  Csesar  strongly  pulled 
upon  it,  while  he  rapidly  backed  up  some 
distance  on  the  trail.  Then  walking  on  the 
rope  to  the  water's  edge  as  it  lay  on  the 
ground,  to  keep  the  pressure  of  the  current 
from  dragging  it  in,  he  again  took  a  fresh 
grip  upon  it  and  repeated  the  process.  This 
he  did  until  the  sixty  feet  of  rope  were 
hauled  in,  and  the  end  of  the  net  was  reached 
to  which  it  was  attached.  The  net  he  now 
hauled  in  little  by  little,  keeping  his  feet 
firmly  on  it  to  securely  hold  it  down.  As  he 
drew  it  up,  several  varieties  of  inferior  fish, 
such  as  suckers,  or  mullets,  pike  or  jackfish, 
were  at  first  observed.  To  them  Csesar  paid 
no  attention.  He  was  after  the  delicious 
whitefish,  which  dogs  as  well  as  human  be- 
ings prefer  to  those  of  other  kinds. 

When  he  had  hauled  in  perhaps  twenty 
feet  of  the  net  he  was  rewarded  by  the  sight 
of  a  fine  white-fish.  Still  holding  the  net 
with  its  struggling  captives  securely  down 
with  his  feet,  he  began  to  devour  this  white- 
fish,  which  was  so  much  more  dainty  than 
the  coarser  fish  generally  thrown  to  him. 


Caesar,  the  Clever  Rascal  229 

Papanekis  and  his  comrade  had  seen  enough. 
The  mysterious  culprit  was  detected  in  the 
act,  and  so  with  a  "  Whoop ! "  they  rushed 
down  upon  him.  Caught  in  the  very  act, 
Caesar  had  to  submit  to  a  thrashing  that 
deterred  him  from  ever  again  trying  that 
cunning  trick. 


XV 

KOONA,  THE  ESKIMO  LEADER 

KOONA    was    a    pure    white    Eskimo 
dog.     Hence  his  name,  as  "  Koona  "  is 
the  Cree  Indian  word  for  snow.     He 
was  of  medium  size,  and  as  an  Eskimo  dog, 
was  as  perfect  as  a  picture. 

While  Caesar  was  tricky  and  surprisingly 
cunning,  Koona  was  simply  mischievous.  I 
retained  him  and  a  few  other  animals  of  the 
Eskimo  variety  because  of  some  peculiar 
excellences.  Koona,  although  at  first  only 
kept  as  a  dog  in  the  fish  or  wood  trains,  soon 
developed  into  such  a  capital  leader  dog 
that  he  was  promoted  to  a  place  among  the 
most  aristocratic  trains.  Indeed,  after  I 
was  so  unfortunate  as  to  break  poor  Voy- 
ageur's  heart,  my  sole  reliance  was  upon 
Koona  as  a  leader  even  in  front  of  Jack, 
Cuffy  and  Muff. 

Like  other  leaders  he  had  his  peculiarities 
and  antipathies.      One  peculiarity  was  he 
hated  to  have  a  guide  running  on  just  ahead 
230 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         231 

of  him.  If  the  guide  were  a  mile  or  so  in 
advance  it  would  be  all  right  with  him. 
Then  he  seemed  to  fancy  he  was  independ- 
ently doing  his  work.  But  if  the  guide  just 
kept  in  front  of  him,  Koona  would  often 
sulk  and  be  of  little  use.  He  ever  did  his 
best  work  when  leading  over  the  great  icy 
stretches  of  lakes  or  along  the  hard  storm- 
swept  frozen  rivers.  Then :  "  Marche, 
Koona ! "  was  all  the  instruction  he  needed, 
and  to  the  far  away  point  indicated  he  would 
gallantly  lead  his  train. 

His  courage,  however,  gave  out  in  a  bliz- 
zard. He  would  refuse  to  face  it  and  would 
cleverly  drop  back  on  the  lee  side  of  big  Jack 
and  allow  him  to  do  not  only  the  work  of 
leading  but  also  of  drawing  that  portion  of 
the  load  which  ought  to  have  been  shared 
between  them.  Jack  often  thus  favoured 
him  and  helped  him  out  of  some  very  diffi- 
cult situations.  He  seemed  to  think  more 
of  Koona  than  he  did  of  any  other  Eskimo 
dog  I  ever  owned,  but  that  is  not  saying 
much. 

Like  all  the  Eskimo  dogs,  Koona  was  a 
first-class  thief  and  very  clever  at  his  work. 
If  he  wras  off  duty  and  around  the  kitchen 
door,  it  was  generally  expected  that  there 


23 2         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

would  be  one  fish  less  in  Martin's  pan  under 
the  stove  where  the  fish  were  being  thawed 
out  in  the  evening.  If  the  kitchen  door  was 
left  open  for  only  a  few  minutes,  it  was  quite 
sufficient  time  for  Koona.  Although  a 
fairly  good  sized  dog  he  seemed  able  to  make 
himself  very  small  and  silent  when  he 
wanted  to  enter  that  kitchen  unobserved. 
His  favourite  plan  was  to  follow  in  close  be- 
hind the  Indian  servant  girl  and,  seizing  the 
first  fish  reached,  as  stealthily  to  retire.  If 
detected  and  followed  up  so  closely  that  he 
could  not  escape  with  the  fish  he  would,  if 
possible,  suddenly  dash  around  some  corner, 
and  lo!  when  reached  by  his  pursuers  he 
would  be  found  demurely  sitting  up  and 
apparently  wondering  what  all  the  fuss  was 
about. 

Not  a  vestige  of  the  fish  that  we  saw 
him  carrying  in  his  mouth  is  now  visible. 
Where  has  it  gone?  Have  our  eyes  deceived 
us?  Surely  it  must  have  been  some  other 
dog  than  this  solemn  looking  fellow  that 
sits  up  so  steadily  on  the  ground.  But  there 
are  some  folks  who  are  as  clever  as  dogs,  and 
one  says :  "  Look  at  the  odd  way  Koona's 
bushy  tail  is  being  held ! "  On  investiga- 
tion, it  is  found  that  the  clever  rascal  is 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         233 

sitting  on  the  stolen  fish  and  is  trying  to 
make  his  curly  tail  help  to  cover  the  fish  out 
of  sight! 

He  was  not  long  in  making  the  discovery 
that  the  fact  of  his  being  white  like  the  snow 
could  be  utilized  to  his  advantage.  If 
when  gambolling  around  with  the  other  dogs 
in  the  light  beautiful  snow  which  was  there 
so  abundant  for  long  months,  Koona  heard 
the  jingling  bells  which  indicated  that  some- 
body was  bringing  out  the  harness  to  begin 
work  with  the  dogs,  Koona  would  at  once 
crouch  down  as  low  as  possible  and  strive 
to  make  himself  invisible.  No  calling 
would  cause  him  to  stir.  He  had  to  be 
hunted  up  and  unceremoniously  driven  to 
his  harness. 

This  trick  which  Koona  had  of  hiding  in 
the  snow  was  a  great  annoyance,  especially 
in  the  wintry  camps  in  the  woods  when  we 
were  on  a  long  journey. 

As  stated  elsewhere,  we  hardly  ever 
waited  until  daylight  ere  beginning  the 
day's  journey.  It  was  very  provoking  when 
we  could  not  easily  find  our  dogs  when  we 
wanted  them.  Koona  was  one  of  the  mis- 
chievous animals  that  often  ruffled  even  the 
most  stoical  driver. 


234        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

He  slept  each  night  when  his  day's  work 
was  done  in  a  hole  which  he  had  carefully 
dug  in  the  snow.  As  everything  around 
him  was  of  the  purest  white,  he  was  practi- 
cally invisible  in  the  starlit  night.  And  as 
he  would  not  move  in  the  morning  until 
stumbled  upon  by  the  searchers  or  was  run 
in  by  Jack,  it  was  at  times  most  provoking. 
One  of  my  drivers  to  save  delay  in  the  morn- 
ing used  to  carefully  observe  where  Koona 
made  his  nest  at  night  so  that  he  could 
easily  find  him  in  the  morning.  After  a 
time  Koona  discovered  this,  and  so  the  in- 
stant he  heard  anyone  moving  in  the  camp 
in  the  early  morning,  he  used  to  quietly 
steal  away  to  some  other  spot  in  the  deep 
snow. 

But  a  happy  expedient  forever  stopped 
him  from  again  repeating  that  trick.  One 
night  the  Indians  caught  him  and  dragging 
him  to  the  camp,  they  took  a  quantity  of 
dead  coals  and  pounding  them  up  into  pow- 
der they  most  completely  blackened  him 
from  his  nose  to  the  tip  of  his  tail.  So 
thoroughly  did  the  Indians  rub  in  the  coal 
powder  that  the  once  spotless  white  dog 
was  for  days  about  as  black  as  Jack  or 
Cuffy.  And  so  all  his  efforts  to  escape  de- 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         235 

tection  by  hiding  in  the  snow  were  vain. 
At  first  he  could  not  understand  the  matter 
but  at  last  it  seemed  to  dawn  upon  him  and 
he  never  tried  the  trick  again. 

It  was  amusing  to  witness  how  very 
quickly  Koona,  as  well  as  many  other  dogs, 
could  pretend  to  be  ill,  or  lame,  or  paralyzed, 
when  they  heard  the  driver  coming  with 
harness  to  make  up  a  train.  We  look  out 
from  our  study  window  and  there  is  over  a 
score  of  dogs  out  from  the  kennels  for  a  big 
romp.  Every  one  seems  in  the  most  perfect 
condition.  See  with  what  wild  abandon 
and  joyousness  they  race  and  play  in  the 
light  fleecy  snow.  There  is  not  a  sign  of  a 
limp  or  lameness  among  them. 

Now  watch !  An  Indian  has  taken  down 
a  set  of  harness,  jingling  with  the  musical 
little  bells,  four  of  which  are  fastened  to 
each  collar.  As  he  opens  the  kitchen  door 
and  walks  out  among  the  dogs,  behold  the 
transformation!  Did  you  ever  see  such  a 
lot  of  wounded,  limping,  paralyzed  dogs  in 
your  life  together!  Caesar  sadly  crawls 
along  on  his  two  fore  feet,  dragging  his  ap- 
parently paralyzed  hind  quarters  along  the 
ground.  Koona,  finding  it  impossible  to 
hide  in  the  snow,  is  making  the  most  comical 


236        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

efforts  to  get  along  on  one  fore  and  one  hind 
leg.  And  others  are  just  as  amusing  in 
their  efforts  to  try  to  convince  Martin,  the 
driver,  that  it  would  be  the  height  of  ab- 
surdity to  think  of  harnessing  up  such  poor, 
helpless,  worn-out  dogs  as  they  are.  How- 
ever, Martin  has  seen  such  tricks  before  and 
so  now  he  heeds  them  not.  All  he  wants  is 
a  train  of  four  good  dogs  with  which  to  take 
his  master  over  for  an  evening's  service  at 
the  Fort. 

"Astum  (come)  Pompey!  Astum,  Black! 
Astum,  Nero !  Astum,  Muff !  " 

Only  one  driver ;  only  one  train ;  and  the 
instant  that  train  is  called  and  each  dog's 
head  is  in  a  collar,  behold  again  the  trans- 
formation among  the  other  dogs:  Caesar's 
spinal  column  is  instantly  all  right  and  his 
hind  legs  are  as  lively  as  his  front  ones. 
Koona,  as  suddenly,  finds  it  easier  to  get 
around  on  four  legs  than  on  two,  and  so  he 
is  dashing  around  at  a  great  rate.  And  thus 
it  is  with  the  others.  They  were  clever 
enough  to  try  the  sympathy  dodge,  but  it 
was  one  that  could  be  easily  seen  through 
and  was  quietly  ignored  by  the  driver  in  ma- 
king his  selection. 

Koona,  like  Hover,  was  a  great  coward. 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         237 

He  would  run  from  a  dog  much  smaller 
than  himself  that  showed  any  spirit  or  pug- 
nacity. But  unlike  Rover,  who  was  ever  a 
lover  of  peace,  Koona  was  never  happier 
than  when  he  was  getting  other  dogs  into 
rows,  and  the  bigger  the  fight  the  more  he 
enjoyed  it. 

One  thing  that  ever  gave  him  the  keenest 
enjoyment  was  to  get  up  a  battle-royal  be- 
tween the  dogs  of  the  mission  and  those  of 
the  Indian  village.  To  do  this  he  had  to 
use  a  good  deal  of  cleverness  and  secrecy, 
for  he  well  knew  that  if  detected  while  de- 
veloping his  plans,  a  second  thrashing 
awaited  him.  And  many  a  one  he  got,  and 
yet  do  it  over  again  he  would  if  he  saw  a 
chance. 

To  understand  his  favourite  method  to 
bring  about  a  big  fight  between  the  rival 
forces,  we  must  explain  that  all  the  mission 
premises,  including  the  dwelling  house, 
church,  school  house,  stable  and  other  out- 
buildings, were  all  built  by  themselves  on  a 
few  acres  of  land  that,  peninsula  like,  pro- 
jected out  a  little  into  Playgreen  Lake,  with 
little  bays  on  each  side.  The  little  neck  of 
land  joining  the  mission  property  to  the 
mainland  was  only  a  few  hundred  feet  wide. 


238         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

So  low  was  it  that  an  old  Indian  tradition 
said  that  in  stormy  weather  it  used  to  be 
covered  by  water.  However,  in  our  time  it 
was  quite  high  and  dry.  The  place  is  very 
rocky  and  near  the  neck  of  land  on  the  mis- 
sion side  are  several  high  rocky  places  from 
which  a  spectator  sees  the  whole  Indian  vil- 
lage, which  spreads  out  east  and  west  on  the 
main  shore,  and  be  he  man  or  dog  he  is  dis- 
tinctly visible  from  each  way.  Here,  when 
the  dogs  were  out  of  their  kennels  and  play- 
ing about  in  their  usual  ways,  Koona,  if  not 
being  watched,  would  stealthily  take  his 
place,  hid  from  observation  at  the  mission 
by  some  outbuildings. 

A  constant  and  unceasing  antagonism 
ever  existed  between  the  dogs  of  the  mis- 
sion and  those  of  the  village.  It  was  war, 
sharp  and  keen,  whenever  they  met,  and  woe 
to  any  single  dog  that  strayed  into  the  do- 
main of  the  other  side. 

Koona's  trick,  when  he  could  carry  it  out, 
was  to  mount  up  on  this  rocky  prominence  in 
full  view  of  many  of  the  village  dogs,  while 
his  own  comrades  were  all  out  of  sight. 
Then  began  the  most  aggravating  and  tan- 
talizing manoeuvres  imaginable,  accompa- 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         239 

nied  by  yelps  that  doubtless  were  dog  taunts 
and  challenges. 

Then  the  excitement  began.  In  those 
days  when  fish  were  abundant,  every  Indian 
house  and  wigwam  swarmed  with  dogs  of 
all  varieties  and  degrees.  They  were  not 
slow  in  hearing  these  impertinent  challenges 
from  the  outpost  of  the  foes,  and  so  speedily 
did  they  gather  that  there  were  dozens  of 
them  collected  on  their  own  side  of  the 
sandy  neck  of  land.  Like  the  wolves  in  the 
dark  forests  which  in  some  respects  these  Es- 
kimo dogs  so  closely  resemble,  their  cour- 
age increases  with  their  numbers,  and  so 
now  when  they  had  become  such  a  numerous 
pack  as  to  feel  that  they  dare  make  the  as- 
sault, with  fierce  yelpings — for  the  Eskimo 
dogs  can  hardly  be  said  to  bark — they  came 
dashing  across  to  try  by  a  sudden  rush  to* 
capture  the  saucy  Koona,  who  doubtless  has 
been  hurling  at  them  all  the  hard  words  he 
had  in  his  vocabulary.  But  he  is  not  such 
a  fool  as  to  be  thus  caught  or  surrounded. 
He  just  waits  to  see  that  they  have  really 
dared  to  cross  the  isthmus  of  neutral  ground 
when,  with  a  rush,  he  comes  tearing  around 
those  outbuildings  and  instantly  he  is  among 


240         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

the  mission  dogs  and  his  call  is  "  Yep!  yep! 
yep!"  which  transformed  into  English  is, 
"  Up  Guards,  and  at  them."  No  second  call 
is  needed,  for  this  one  is  thoroughly  under- 
stood, and  prompt  indeed  is  the  response. 

With  Koona  at  their  head,  twenty  or 
thirty  dogs  and  pups  are  off  to  meet  the  on- 
coming foe. 

Generally  they  met  about  at  the  base  of 
the  rock,  from  the  top  of  which  Koona  had 
given  his  saucy  challenge. 

And  it  was  a  battle-royal.  It  was  mar- 
vellous how  they  charged  each  other  and  how 
if  one  was  being  worsted,  his  disengaged 
comrades  came  to  his  rescue.  They  did  not 
generally  fasten  on  each  other,  as  two 
fierce  dogs  in  single  combat  often  do,  but 
with  wild  rushes  together  would  simply  try 
to  overpower  with  weight  their  opponents 
and  tumble  them  down  in  the  snow.  Still 
there  were  some  that  went  in  for  more 
serious  fighting,  and  singling  out  some  spe- 
cial dog  with  whom,  perhaps,  they  had  some 
old  scores  to  settle,  they  pitched  into  him 
for  all  they  were  worth. 

But  where  was  Koona  all  this  time?  We 
had  seen  him  starting  the  row  and  bravely 
heading  our  dogs  to  repel  the  oncoming  foe. 


Koona,  the  Eskimo  Leader         241 

But  you  need  not  look  for  him  in  the  fight 
for  he  will  not  be  there.  He  never  was  in 
one,  and  if  he  can  help  it  he  never  will  be. 

Gallantly  did  he  lead  the  forces  to  repel 
the  attack,  but  only  part  way.  Skilfully  he 
manoeuvred  himself  to  one  side  and  then, 
as  the  dogs  catching  sight  of  the  foes  dashed 
on,  Koona  with  cunning  strategy  clambered 
up  on  the  rocky  eminence  from  which  he 
had  but  a  short  time  before  issued  his 
saucy,  defiant  challenge.  There,  in  secur- 
ity, he  danced  and  howled  in  an  ecstacy  of 
delight,  as  he  surveyed  the  battle  raging 
below ! 

Of  course  the  battle  was  not  allowed  to 
continue  long.  The  instant  the  inmates  of 
the  mission,  and  the  Indians  in  their  homes, 
heard  the  din  of  battle,  they  well  under- 
stood what  it  meant,  and  so,  speedily  rush- 
ing out  with  their  heavy  dog-whips,  they 
quickly  separated  the  combatants  and 
drove  them  back  to  their  respective 
quarters. 

When  peace  again  prevailed  and  the 
question  was  asked: 

"  Who  began  the  row  this  time?  " 

At  least  a  half-dozen  sharp-eyed  Indians 
declared  that  from  their  abodes  they  had 


242         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

watched  Koona  at  his  trick*  again.  So 
Koona  was  speedily  captured,  ioundly 
thrashed  and  sent  to  bed  without  any 
supper. 


XVI 

TRAVELLING  WITH  DOGS  IN  NORTHERN  WILDS 

IN  civilized  countries  the  facilities  for 
travel   improve   as   the   population   in- 
creases.    Railroad  and  steamboat  lines 
are  not  built  or  run  where  there  is  no  pros- 
pect of  remunerative  returns.     So  we  may 
expect  and  generally  find  that  the  facilities 
for  travel  are  in  accordance  with  the  num- 
bers and  demands  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
different  regions  of  the  civilized  world. 

In  addition  to  this  we  have  to  take  into 
consideration  the  character  of  the  climate 
of  each  country,  and  what  methods  of  travel 
are  possible,  where  the  usual  facilities  com- 
mon to  most  countries  are  impracticable. 
Yet  limited  as  these  methods  must  neces- 
sarily be  in  the  less  highly  favoured  regions, 
it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  there  are 
found  in  all  such  places  some  facilities 
which  seem  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with 
their  environments.  Take  for  example  the 
camel  in  the  tropical  deserts,  and  the 
243 


244        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Huskie  or  Eskimo  dog,  in  the  arctic  regioni. 
Both  are  fitted  for  their  special  work  in 
a  very  remarkable  degree,  and  there  is  noth- 
ing, considering  the  condition  of  these 
lands,  that  can  at  present  successfully  take 
their  places.  If  the  theory  of  evolution  is 
true,  the  camel  and  the  dog  are  surely  the 
perfected  production  of  long  years  of  de- 
velopment under  circumstances  the  most 
trying. 

With  the  dogs  of  the  Northland,  and 
" journeyings  oft"  with  them  we  are  now 
concerned.  Travellers  in  the  burning 
deserts  can  write  whereof  they  know  about 
the  patient  camel,  but  this  chapter  is  to  be 
devoted  to  a  description  of  a  trip  with  dogs 
and  Indians  through  the  wilds  of  the  Great 
Northland.  Why  with  dogs?  Simply  be- 
cause there  is  positively  no  other  way 
possible. 

The  whistle  of  no  railroad  engine  or 
steamer  has  ever  aroused  the  echoes  of  these 
northern  interior  solitudes,  neither  is  it 
likely  to  do  so  for  long  years  to  come. 

There  are  absolutely  no  roads,  or  paths, 
or  trails,  for  hundreds,  nor  even  thousands, 
of  miles.  The  result  is  that  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  other  way  of  winter  travelling 


THE    LORDLY    PINES    IN    WINTER    DRESS. 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  245 

than  with  dogi,  except  going  on  foot,  and 
even  that  becomes  impossible  when  dis- 
tances are  greater  than  those  where  men 
can  carry  their  own  supplies.  For  their 
supplies  mean  much  more  than  merely  the 
food  a  man  would  consume.  It  means  his 
bedding,  weapons  of  defence,  axe,  snow- 
shoes  and  various  other  things,  in  addition 
to  kettles  in  which  to  cook  his  food.  Hence 
to  those  who  would  there  travel,  the  dog  is 
simply  invaluable,  in  spite  of  his  many 
defects. 

As  so  much  is  said  in  other  parts  of  this 
book  about  dogs  in  general,  as  well  as  about 
some  individual  ones,  I  need  not  in  this 
chapter  give  any  further  description  of 
them.  My  readers  must  imagine  that  we 
are  travelling  with  the  splendid  dogs  else- 
where described  or  with  others  like  them. 

The  dog-sleds  are  not  always  of  the  same 
form  or  construction.  In  those  regions 
where  there  is  but  little  dense  forest  coun- 
try, the  sleds  are  made  much  wider  than  are 
those  which  are  used  where  the  trails  run 
through  the  densely  wooded  regions.  Then 
in  many  places  experience  has  shown  that 
the  sleds  constructed  with  strong  runners, 
which  keep  the  body  of  the  sled  well  up 


246         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

from  the  ground,  are  the  best  for  travelling 
through  certain  sections  of  broken  country, 
and  especially  over  the  great  rough  ice 
fields  of  the  Northern  seas. 

The  perfect  sled,  however,  for  use  in  the 
forest  and  lake  regions,  where  we  spent  our 
years  when  in  that  Northland,  was  made 
exactly  on  the  same  plan  as  are  the  tobog- 
gans of  Quebec.  From  the  Eed  Kiver 
Settlement  we  had  sent  out  to  us  by  boats 
in  the  summer  time,  some  good  oak  boards. 
They  were  twelve  feet  long,  eight  or  nine 
inches  wide,  and  an  inch  thick.  Two  of 
these  were  matched  and  then  firmly  fas- 
tened edge  to  edge  to  each  other  with  strong 
cross-bars.  Then  one  end  was  planed  down, 
until  it  was  not  more  than  half  of  the  thick- 
ness of  the  rest  of  the  boards.  The  thin 
end  was  then  thoroughly  steamed  for  at 
least  a  day,  and  then,  in  a  place  prepared, 
was  bent  in  the  shape  required  for  the  head 
of  the  sled.  Strong  deer-skin  thongs,  well 
tied,  held  every  part  in  its  right  position, 
and  so,  as  soon  as  the  parts  softened  by  the 
steam  had  become  hard  and  rigid,  the  sled 
was  about  finished.  Two  strong  deer-skin 
loops  were  fastened  at  the  front,  to  which 
the  traces  of  the  dogs  were  attached  when 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  247 

desired.  Then  much  larger  loops  were 
firmly  secured  on  each  side  of  the  sled  for 
the  purpose  of  fastening  on  the  loads,  and 
now  the  sled  is  considered  completed,  and 
ready  for  use.  A  cariole  was  one  of  these 
sleds  fixed  up  with  a  comfortable  back  and 
parchment  sides.  Often  it  was  gaily 
painted  and  with  fur  robes  and  a  good  trail 
was  a  cosy  vehicle  in  which  to  ride. 

For  a  long  trip  of,  say,  several  hundreds 
of  miles,  during  which  I  would  be  absent 
from  home  for  perhaps  six  weeks,  I  would 
take  with  me  three  of  these  oak  sleds  and 
a  cariole. 

Four  dogs  constituted  a  train  sufficiently 
strong  to  draw  a  loaded  sled.  The  dogs 
with  us  were  harnessed  up  in  tandem  style. 
Any  other  method  would  not  have  been 
suitable  in  such  a  densely  wooded  country. 

The  taking  of  so  many  dogs  and  sleds 
may  appear  at  first  extravagant.  But  the 
explanation  is  simple.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  these  long  journeys  were  made 
in  a  country  so  wild  that  there  were  not 
only  no  hotels  or  lodging  places  of  any 
kind  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the 
route,  but  also  there  were  no  shops,  or 
places  of  any  description,  where  supplies 


248         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

could  be  secured  for  love  or  money.  The 
only  possible  exception  to  this  rule  was 
when  we  were  so  fortunate  as  to  cross  the 
trail  of  a  hunter  who  might  have  been  lucky 
enough  to  have  just  shot  a  moose  or  a  rein- 
deer. Then  we  might  be  able  to  purchase 
some  venison.  But  even  that  meant  giving 
in  exchange  supplies  from  our  sleds,  as  all 
bargains  were  by  barter;  so  we  really  were 
not  much  better  off. 

Our  loads  were  of  a  most  miscellaneous 
character.  The  supplies  of  food  for  our- 
selves and  the  fish  for  our  dogs  generally 
constituted  the  heaviest  part.  For  cooking 
our  food  and  making  tea  for  all,  we  had  a 
supply  of  kettles  as  well  as  a  quantity  of 
unbreakable  dishes.  Then  there  were  our 
axes,  of  which  we  had  to  take  a  liberal  sup- 
ply, as  we  were  continually  breaking  them 
on  account  of  the  intense  frost,  making  the 
steel  almost  as  brittle  as  glass.  Some  guns 
and  ammunition  were  also  in  our  loads  al- 
though not  nearly  as  much  as  on  a  summer 
trip.  Then  we  would  expect  to  find  suffi- 
cient game  to  keep  our  pot  boiling,  but  now 
in  this  bitter  winter  weather  there  was  but 
little  game.  So  our  guns  were  more  car- 
ried now,  as  a  precautionary  measure 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  249 

against  prowling  grey  wolves  that  could 
make  themselves  troublesome  at  times  and 
give  us  an  exciting  hour  or  two,  or  even  a 
whole  sleepless  night.  Our  bedding  consti- 
tuted no  inconsiderable  part  of  our  loads. 
To  sleep  out  in  the  open  air  in  a  hole 
scooped  out  in  a  snow  drift,  and  the  cold 
so  intense  that  the  mercury  is  frozen  in  our 
thermometers,  requires  for  comfort  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  bedding.  These  blank- 
ets and  fur  robes  add  considerably  to  the 
bulk  and  weight  of  our  loads.  Then  add 
to  what  has  already  been  enumerated,  medi- 
cines in  case  of  sickness  or  accidents, 
articles  to  mend  breakages  to  dog  harness 
or  sleds,  a  liberal  supply  of  presents  for  the 
different  bands  of  Indians  we  hope  to  visit, 
and  our  necessary  changes  of  clothing,  and 
it  will  be  easily  seen  that  a  long  trip  by 
dog  trains,  is  not  a  light  or  trifling  under- 
taking. 

Of  my  faithful  Indian  companions  with 
whom  I  travelled  for  long  years,  on  many 
a  rough  and  dangerous  journey,  it  is  a 
pleasure  and  a  joy  to  write.  Untiring  and 
enduring  to  a  degree,  they  not  only  won  my 
admiration,  but  aroused  my  astonishment 
at  what  the  human  frame  was  able  to  ac- 


250         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

complish.  They  were  ever  prone  to  dis- 
parage any  of  their  wonderful  deeds,  and 
were  exceedingly  modest  when  urged  to 
recount  them. 

My  equipment  of  Indians  for  my  four 
sleds  and  sixteen  dogs  on  these  long  jour- 
neys would  be  a  guide  and  three  dog- 
drivers. 

The  first-class  Indian  guides  are  certainly 
wonderfully  gifted  men.  Their  ability  to 
lead  on  through  those  Northern  pathless 
solitudes,  where  for  hundreds  of  miles,  for 
months  together,  not  the  least  vestige  of  a 
road  is  seen,  and  where  to  an  ordinary 
white  man,  there  is  absolutely  nothing  to 
give  the  slightest  hint  or  information  of  the 
correct  route — is  simply  marvellous. 

Naturally  supposing  that  they  guided 
their  course  by  the  sun,  I  was  amazed  to 
find  that  in  the  dark  and  cloudy  days,  when 
the  skies  were  leaden,  and  I  could  not  tell 
north  from  south,  or  east  from  west,  they 
swung  along  on  their  great  snow-shoes  with 
as  much  accuracy  and  speed  as  when  the 
sun,  in  its  northern  brilliancy,  shone  from 
the  cloudless  heavens. 

Then  a  greater  mystery  still  about  these 
strangely  gifted  men  came  to  me  as  a  reve- 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  251 

lation,  and  that  was  that  they  could  travel 
as  well  by  night  as  by  day;  and  also  that 
it  made  but  little  difference  to  them 
whether  the  stars  shone  out  in  all  the  splen- 
dour of  those  high  latitudes  or  clouds  arose 
and  mantled  the  landscape  with  gloom  and 
darkness.  Still  on  and  on  strode  the  mar- 
vellous guide. 

On  the  guide  rested  the  chief  responsibili- 
ties of  the  journey.  It  was  his  to  say  when 
each  day's  journey  was  ended.  He  selected 
each  camping  place  and  assigned  to  each 
Indian  his  allotted  work.  Running  ahead 
he  set  the  pace  and  expected  that  all  would 
endeavour  to  keep  as  close  on  his  trail  as 
possible.  This  was  to  be  the  unbroken  rule, 
especially  when  the  weather  was  threaten- 
ing or  blizzards  might  assail  us.  He  was 
supposed  to  be  ever  on  the  lookout  for  the 
coming  storm,  and  even  before  ordinary 
mortals  could  detect  any  sign  of  its  coming 
he  would  have  us  all  fleeing  for  shelter  to 
the  distant  forest.  He  was  never  to  go 
through  or  over  places  where  the  sleds  fol- 
lowing could  not  pass.  Hence  he  would 
never  crowd  himself  between  trees  growing 
closely  together  or  spring  over  fallen  ones, 
unless  it  was  impossible  to  mark  out  a  trail 


252        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

around  the  obstruction.  Hence  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  guide  was  not  merely  a  man 
who  could  push  on  rapidly  at  the  front,  but 
was  one  who,  as  it  were  by  intuition,  as  he 
swiftly  glided  on,  took  in  at  a  glance  the 
features  of  the  country,  and  saw  where  the 
trail  must  be  made  that  would  entail  the 
least  hardships  on  the  dogs  and  men 
following. 

The  guide's  position  was  thus  one  of  great 
responsibility,  and  his  pay  was  about  twice 
that  of  the  ordinary  dog-drivers. 

His  sleeping  place  in  the  camp  was  next 
to  "  the  Master,"  if  he  so  desired,  and  it  was 
his  morning  call  of  "  Koos-Koos-Kwah !  " 
(Wake  up!)  that  had  to  be  promptly 
obeyed  by  all. 

The  dog-drivers  I  employed  when  possi- 
ble to  be  obtained,  were  picked  men  who 
had  not  only  splendid  powers  of  endurance 
but  intelligent  sympathy  in  their  manage- 
ment of  the  dog-trains  committed  to  their 
care.  Isolated  as  we  were  on  these  trips  so 
completely  from  the  rest  of  the  world, 
where  we  had  no  companionship  but  our 
own  attendants,  in  their  selection  I  en- 
deavoured to  secure  comrades  in  my  serv- 
ants, each  of  whom  was  well  treated  andi 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  253 

from  whom  the  corresponding  congenial 
fellowship  was  expected,  and  was  generally 
received.  I  never  twice  hired  a  sulky  or 
disagreeable  man  if  I  could  help  it.  The 
result  was  that,  having  the  class  of  men  I 
wanted,  we  were  a  happy  little  company. 
We  had  our  innocent  jokes  and  pleasantries 
when  everything  was  bright  around  us. 
Then  when  dangers  assailed  us,  and  even 
death  in  the  form  of  the  terrible  blizzard 
would  threaten  to-  overwhelm  us  together, 
as  brothers  we  stood  and  faced  the  common 
peril.  This  confidential  relationship  be- 
tween us  as  master  and  men  did  not  spoil 
them  as  my  servants. 

Never  did  I  receive  an  impertinent  OP 
saucy  word  from  any  of  my  own  men  on 
any  of  these,  at  times,  most  trying  journeys. 
On  the  contrary  I  have  seen  such  evidences 
of  their  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  that^I 
am  confident  that  some  of  them  would  have 
died  for  me. 

When  starting  off  on  a  long  journey,  of 
course  the  guide  was  at  the  front.  With 
Voyageur  as  leader,  and  Jack,  Cuffy  and 
Caesar  constituting  my  train,  I  would 
quickly  follow  on  his  trail.  Behind  me 
came  the  other  heavily  loaded  sleds,  each 


254         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

train  driven  by  an  Indian.  There  was  often 
a  certain  amount  of  good-natured  rivalry 
among  these  drivers  as  to  the  place  they 
should  have  in  the  procession,  as  they  called 
it. 

However,  in  a  few  days  the  matter 
seemed  to  arrange  itself  and  the  weakest 
dogs  with  the  lightest  loads,  generally 
brought  up  the  rear.  Keeping,  as  of  course 
we  must,  fairly  close  together,  our  progress 
was  according  to  the  speed  of  the  slowest 
train.  To  expedite  matters  there  was  con- 
siderable re-adjustment  of  the  loads  in 
favour  of  the  lighter  and  younger  dogs. 

Such  travelling  was  conducive  to  good 
appetites.  The  result  was  there  were  sev- 
eral halts  during  the  day  for  a  meal.  That 
there  might  be  as  little  delay  as  possible, 
the  guide  often  carried  an  axe  in  his  belt. 
When  he  decided  that  it  was  about  time  for 
the  next  meal  he  would  put  on  a  spurt  and 
run  ahead  with  such  rapidity  that  he  would 
soon  be  a  mile  or  so  in  advance.  Here  he 
would  select  a  favourable  spot  near  some 
small,  dry  trees.  Using  one  of  his  big  snow- 
shoes  as  a  shovel  he  soon  cleared  the  snow 
away  from  the  spot.  Then  with  his  keen 
axe  he  speedily  cut  down  some  of  the  small 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  255 

trees.  Cutting  them  into  suitable  lengths, 
he  thus  prepared  his  wood.  His  flint  and 
steel,  in  his  skilled  hand,  soon  started  the 
fire.  So  when  the  rest  of  the  party  came 
up,  a  roaring  fire  was  ready  for  the  kettles, 
which  were  speedily  brought  into  use.  The 
meal  was  quickly  cooked  and  eaten  and  the 
journey  once  more  resumed.  Thus  on  and 
on  we  journeyed  until  the  lengthening 
shadows  told  the  guide  that  it  was  about 
time  he  began  to  look  out  for  the  camping- 
place  where  the  night  was  to  be  spent. 

The  day's  march  was  supposed  to  end 
about  an  hour  before  the  sun  went  down. 
This  gave  ample  time  in  which  to  prepare  the 
camp  and  make  all  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  there  spending  the  night.  The 
two  essentials  for  a  good  camp  were  abun- 
dance of  dry  wood  and  a  sheltered  grove  of 
live  spruce  or  balsam  trees.  When  the 
guide  reached  what  thus  suited  his  experi- 
enced eye,  the  halt  was  called,  and  dogs,  as 
well  as  men,  rejoiced  at  the  welcome  rest. 
Yet  there  was  a  good  deal  to  be  done  ere 
there  was  any  quiet  rest.  As  each  train 
reached  the  place  selected  by  the  guide  the 
first  duty  of  each  driver  was  to  unharness 
his  dogs.  If  he  had  the  misfortune  to  have 


256         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

in  hit  train  any  that  were  difficult  to  catch, 
it  was  his  duty  to  fasten  them  in  some  way 
so  that  he  could  get  his  hands  on  them  in 
the  morning.  Some  careless  drivers  would 
neglect  these  precautionary  measures  and 
then,  as  a  natural  result,  there  would  be 
trouble,  with  a  certain  percentage  of  fun, 
before  he  secured  his  dogs  to  resume  the 
journey. 

The  spot  selected  for  the  camp  is  now 
carefully  prepared.  A  level  place  is 
selected  as  much  protected  from  the  wind 
as  can  be  found.  The  big  snow-shoes  make 
capital  shovels,  and  so  when  wielded  by  the 
strong  arms  of  these  stalwart  men,  they 
soon  clean  out  the  greater  quantity  of  that 
snow  which  was  there  resting  and  pile  it 
up  in  great  banks  at  the  rear  and  on  each 
side  of  the  camp.  The  camp  when  thus  pre- 
pared is  really  a  hollow  square  with  great 
snow  banks  on  three  sides.  From  the 
fourth  side  the  snow  is  all  thrown  away  and 
here  the  great  fire  will  soon  be  blazing.  To 
keep  this  fire  burning  great  quantities  of 
wood  will  be  required.  This  is  the  reason 
why  the  guide  selected  this  spot  for  the 
camp.  And  now  that  the  snow  has  been 
cleared  away,  the  men  exchange  their  snow- 


Trarelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  257 

shoes  for  sharp  axes  and,  under  their  vig- 
ourous  strokes,  the  tall  dry  trees  are  being 
rapidly  felled. 

Then  they  are  cut  up  in  lengths  of  from 
ten  to  fifteen  feet  and  dragged  or  carried, 
where  they  can  be  used  as  needed.  Once 
the  fire  is  kindled  there  begins  work  of  a 
different  kind.  The  sleds  are  unpacked  and 
while  some  of  us  arrange  the  robes  and 
blankets  in  the  camp,  others  begin  the  prep- 
arations for  the  supper.  Taking  the  ket- 
tles from  the  sleds  they  fill  them  with  snow. 
So  light  and  dry  is  this  snow  that  a  large 
quantity  is  needed  to  make  an  ordinary- 
sized  kettle  of  water.  When  abundance  of 
water  is  thus  obtained;  the  meat  is  boiled 
in  the  larger  kettle,  while  the  smaller  one 
is  reserved  for  the  tea. 

And  now  that  our  supper  is  being  cooked, 
the  dogs  are  remembered,  and  their  one 
daily  meal  is  prepared.  Each  driver  brings 
from  his  sled  eight  large  white  fish.  These 
are  all  frozen  so  solidly  that  it  would  be 
wicked  to  give  them  to  the  faithful  dogs 
while  in  that  condition.  To  thaw  them  out 
with  such  a  glorious  fire  is  an  easy  task; 
and  placing  them  where  the  heat  will  have 
full  play  upon  them,  the  thirty-two  fish  re- 


258         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

quired  for  the  sixteen  dogs  are  soon  ready. 
The  instant  the  fish  begin  frizzling  in  the 
heat,  the  fragrance  of  the  coming  supper 
fairly  sets  some  of  the  more  excitable  dogs 
wild.  They  are  however  obliged  to  wait 
even  if  it  be  a  hardship,  until  their  drivers 
have  gathered  their  trains  together  and 
then  carefully  fed  them.  Great  care,  and, 
at  times,  a  good  deal  of  firmness  has  to  be 
exercised  often  backed  up  with  the  whip,  to 
keep  some  of  the  more  greedy  dogs,  after 
voraciously  bolting  their  own  fish,  from 
cunningly  attempting  to  rob  some  of  the 
others. 

The  dogs  having  been  fed  and  thus  dis- 
posed of  for  the  night,  the  next  thing  is  to 
arrange  for  our  own  supper.  On  the  camp- 
side  of  the  fire  a  little  cloth  is  spread  out, 
and  on  it,  first  thoroughly  heated  to  take 
the  frost  out  of  them,  are  arranged  our 
metal  plates  and  knives  and  forks.  If  we 
are  fortunate  enough  to  have  flour  at  home, 
we  will  have  with  us  a  quantity  of  well- 
cooked  heavy  cakes,  made  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible of  half  fat  and  flour.  A  number  of 
these  are  thawed  out,  for  everything  here 
freezable  is  most  decidedly  frozen.  One  In- 
dian with  a  sharp-pointed  stick,  lifts  the 


Travelling  with  Dogs  in  Northern  Wilds  259 

large  piece  of  fat  meat  out  of  the  boiling 
pot  and  places  it  in  the  hot  pan  on  the  cloth 
on  the  ground,  while  another  fills  the  heated 
tin  cups  with  steaming  tea.  This  is  our 
supper,  consisting  as  we  have  here  described 
of  hot  fat  cakes,  hot  fat  meat  and  hot  strong 
tea. 

Don't  turn  away  in  disgust,  my  good 
friend.  You  never  enjoyed  a  meal  better  in 
your  life.  And  what  is  more,  you  would 
enjoy  this  one  too,  if  you  just  had  the  same 
glorious  surroundings  and  the  marvellous 
appetite  that  the  open  air  life  in  this  bra- 
cing climate  gives.  It  is  true  that  we  do 
have  some  storms  and  blizzards  and  occa- 
sionally the  mercury  slips  down  out  of 
sight,  but  it  is  also  true  that  for  weeks  to- 
gether the  sun  shines  with  wondrous  bril- 
liancy during  each  short  day,  and  then  the 
nights  are  more  glorious  still.  So  with 
plenty  of  robes,  splendid  dogs,  a  safe  guide 
and  the  truest  of  Indian  servants,  we  know 
nothing  more  exhilarating  and  provocative 
of  the  fine  appetite,  that  is  ready  for  any 
food  that  is  prepared,  no  matter  if  the  prep- 
arations be  primitive  and  the  cooks  only 
Red  Indians. 


XVII 

STILL  ON  THE  TRAIL  WITH  THE  DOGS 

THE  preparation  of  the  bed  in  the 
winter  camp  and  getting  ready  to 
occupy  it  were  interesting  operations. 
In  the  previous  chapter  we  have  described 
the  method  of  piling  up  the  snow  out  of  the 
selected  camp  in  drifts  or  banks  on  three 
sides.  Sometimes  when  we  were  not  too 
weary  and  there  was  abundance  of  live 
spruce  or  balsam  trees  near,  we  would  cut 
some  of  them  down  and  luxuriously  carpet 
our  camp  with  their  branches  finely  broken 
up.  Generally  we  were  satisfied  to  leave  a 
few  inches  of  snow  on  the  ground.  On  this 
we  spread  out  our  robes  and  blankets.  My 
Indians  were  capital  bed  makers,  and  I 
never  once  had  to  complain  of  them. 
Thoroughly  and  well  would  they  arrange 
the  under  robes  and  blankets,  taking  great 
care  to  remove  every  stone  or  stick  which, 
under  one's  back  or  ribs,  would  not  invite 
sleep. 

260 


Still  on  the  Trail  with  the  Dogs     261 

Some  travellers  prefer  to  sleep  in  a  great 
fur  bag.  I  tried  one  for  a  season,  but  so 
disliked  it  that  I  discarded  it  ever  after. 
There  was  such  a  sensation  of  perfect  help- 
lessness when  in  it,  a  feeling  of  powerless- 
ness  if  one  should  be  attacked  by  fire  or  man 
or  beast.  So  as  I  found  out  that  these 
things  bothered  me,  I  returned  to  the  old- 
fashioned  bed  and  always  had  more  com- 
fort in  it  than  in  any  fur  bag  I  ever  tried. 

The  preparation  a  person  has  to  make 
before  he  can  safely  get  into  such  a  bed  is 
quite  elaborate.  Anything  like  disrobing, 
as  is  customary  in  civilization,  is  there  out 
of  the  question.  The  only  undressing  there 
permissible,  is  the  unbuttoning  of  your 
shirt  collar.  This  makes  it  a  little  easier 
to  breathe,  and  that  is  an  important  matter, 
as  you  will  soon  find  out.  I  found  it  con- 
ducive to  my  comfort  to  change  the  mocca- 
sins and  stockings  in  which  I  had  been 
travelling  during  the  day,  for  much  larger 
ones  at  night.  My  weary  feet  seemed  rested 
by  the  change,  and  I  slept  much  better.  On 
my  head  I  wore  a  loose  cap  with  large  fur 
ears.  A  long  fur  coat  was  very  comfortable, 
but  as  such  garments  are  very  expensive,  we 
found  out  that  very  comfortable  and  serv- 


262         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

iceable  attire  could  be  made  for  us  by  the 
native  women,  out  of  the  warm  Hudson's 
Bay  blankets  of  the  country.  To  these  coats 
as  well  as  to  similar  garments,  were  at- 
tached large  warm  hoods.  These  hoods, 
which  are  called  capotes  in  that  country, 
are  very  comfortable  not  only  by  day  when 
travelling  but  when  pulled  up  over  the  fur 
cap  at  night. 

Thus  attired  I  am  now  ready  for  bed,  and 
while  I  have  been  thus  getting  ready  for  re- 
tiring, my  faithful  Indians  have  been  pre- 
paring my  bed  for  me.  Every  inequality 
under  the  robes  constituting  the  bottom  has 
been  removed  or  pounded  down.  Then 
blankets  are  very  evenly  spread  out,  and 
now  I  am  invited :  "  Please  get  into  bed, 
and  we  will  cover  you  up  and  tuck  you  in." 

These  seemed  at  the  time  like  words  for 
a  little  child.  But  years  of  experience  since 
have  not  only  shown  me  the  wisdom  but 
also  the  love  that  prompted  them. 

I  get  down  as  well  as  I  can  considering 
how  swathed  up  I  am,  and  as  soon  as  I  am 
in  position  the  men  place  the  coverings  over 
me  and,  commencing  at  my  feet,  proceed 
with  the  process  of  tucking  me  in.  They  do 


Still  on  the  Trail  with  the  Dogs     263 

it  most  thoroughly  and  yet  so  kindly.  No 
mother  ever  more  carefully  and  completely 
tucked  up  her  child  in  a  crib  or  cradle  than 
do  my  faithful  Indians  thus  tuck  me  up  in 
my  robes  and  blankets  in  this  snow,  to  pro- 
tect me  as  much  as  possible  from  the  bitter 
cold.  As  stated,  they  begin  at  my  feet  and 
gradually  working  up,  they  reach  my 
shoulders  and  then  they  fold  back  both  the 
blanket  and  fur  robe  over  my  head,  and 
begin  tucking  them  under  my  shoulders. 

I  had  not  at  first  been  educated  enough 
in  Indian  methods  to  stand  that  kind  of 
sleeping,  and  so  it  was  quite  the  thing  for 
me,  after  enduring  the  choking  sensation 
for  a  very  brief  period,  suddenly  to  throw 
everything  off  from  my  head  and  ask  them : 
"  Why  do  you  wish  to  smother  me?  " 

Patiently  would  they  put  up  with  my  in- 
experience and  say: 

"  We  love  you  too  well  to  smother  you. 
We  know  it  must  be  difficult  at  first  for 
you  to  sleep  in  this  way,  but  you  will  soon 
be  able  to  stand  it,  and  indeed  there  is  no 
other  safe  way." 

No  other  safe  way?  Well,  if  that  is  the 
case,  I  must  try  again,  and  so  they  patiently 


264        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

tucked  me  up  again,  and  I  tried  once  more 
to  learn  how  to  sleep  with  my  head  thus 
completely  covered  up. 

It  was  one  of  the  hardest  lessons  I  ever 
had  to  learn,  and  it  really  took  years  in  its 
accomplishment.  The  smothery  sensations 
are  at  times  almost  unbearable,  and  indeed 
there  were  times  when  I  could  not  endure 
them,  and  so  would  run  the  risk  of  freezing 
my  face,  in  spite  of  the  kindly  entreaties  of 
my  watchful  Indians. 

One  night  I  determined  with  all  the  will 
power  at  command  patiently  to  submit  to 
the  tucking-up  process,  and  did  really  get 
soundly  to  sleep.  Some  time  later  on  I 
must  have  partially  awakened,  and  uncon- 
sciously uncovered  my  face,  for  at  a  stage 
later  I  remember  finding  myself  vigour- 
ously  tugging  at  what  in  my  semi-conscious 
condition  I  imagined  was  the  handle  of  an 
axe! 

When  I  really  did  pull  myself  into  a  state 
of  consciousness  I  made  the  rather  startling 
discovery  that  I  was  trying  to  pull  off  my 
nose,  and  that  it  was  solidly  frozen.  I  was 
very  conscious  of  the  possession  of  a  nose 
for  the  next  two  months  while  I  was  en- 


Still  on  the  Trail  with  the  Dogs     265 

deavouring  to  get  it  back  into  its  normal 
condition. 

The  Indians  generally  provided  them- 
selves with  large  rabbit-skin  blankets,  each 
one  requiring  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
skins.  They  were,  without  exception,  the 
warmest  robes  of  any  description,  I  ever 
saw.  With  one  of  these  apiece,  my  In- 
dians would  sleep  with  the  greatest  com- 
fort throughout  the  coldest,  wildest  night 
in  that  wild  Northland,  and  spring  up, 
often  literally  steaming  hot  in  the  morning. 
I  tried  these  snowy-white  rabbit  robes  one 
winter,  but  found  them  so  warm  that  I  had 
to  discard  them  as  I  sweat  so  much  under 
them  that  I  was  continually  catching  cold 
afterwards. 

We  were  never  sorry  if  a  fall  of  snow 
came  gently  down  upon  us,  of,  say,  a  couple 
of  feet  in  depth.  We  did  not  care  for  its 
arrival  until  we  were  cosily  covered  up  in 
our  beds.  Then,  however,  it  was  welcome. 
Gently  and  warmly  it  covered  us,  as  a 
blanket  spread  over  shivering  children  by 
a  loving  mother's  hands. 

The  fire  at  our  feet  was  not  kept  burning 
all  through  the  night,  unless  the  cold  was 


266         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

of  unusual  severity  or  we  were  disturbed 
by  prowling,  saucy,  grey  wolves.  These 
disturbances  were,  however,  rare,  and  as  I 
insisted  on  my  men  being  well  supplied 
with  sufficient  blankets,  we  generally  slept 
undisturbed  until  the  time  arrived  when  we 
had  arranged  to  resume  our  journey. 

The  getting  up  was  a  trying  ordeal.  We 
had  to  spring  up  from  under  our  blankets, 
where  we  had  been  resting  in  warmth  and 
comfort,  out  into  that  frigid  air,  where 
Jack  Frost  ruled  with  merciless  power. 
My !  but  he  did  pinch  us,  and  that  without 
pity. 

When  we  cuddled  down  to  sleep,  a  great 
blazing  fire  was  burning  at  our  feet.  That 
very  spot  is  covered  over  with  a  couple  of 
feet  of  snow. 

The  outlook  is  dreary  indeed,  but  there  is 
no  time  for  murmuring,  we  have  been  in 
worse  plights  than  we  are  this  morning  and 
this  scene  can  soon  be  transformed.  And 
it  is.  The  snow-shoes,  again  used  as 
shovels,  speedily  clear  away  the  light,  dry 
snow.  Strong  arms  so  energetically  ply 
the  axes  that  an  abundance  of  dry  wood  is 
secured,  and  flint  and  steel  in  expert  hands 
do  the  rest,  and  once  again  to  gladden  our 


Still  on  the  Trail  with  the  Dogs     267 

hearts  and  warm  our  bodies  the  great  fire 
is  blazing  before  us.  In  its  warmth,  as  well 
as  from  the  active  exercise  in  which  we  had 
all  been  engaged — for  no  one  plays  dead- 
head here,  we  forget  our  shiverings  and  are 
in  splendid  trim  for  our  breakfast,  which 
is  prepared  as  speedily  as  possible. 

"  What  is  your  bill  of  fare?  "  I  fancy  I 
hear  some  good  friend  asking. 

Well,  interested  reader,  it  is  exactly  the 
same  as  it  was  last  night,  and  what  is  more 
it  will  be  the  same  until  the  fat  cakes  give 
out,  and  from  that  on  it  will  be  just  meat 
and  tea,  meat  and  tea,  until  the  trip  is 
ended  or  the  supplies  give  out,  often  the 
latter. 

After  breakfast  and  prayers,  the  dogs  are 
captured,  not  always  an  easy  task,  as  has 
already  been  shown.  The  sleds  are  re- 
loaded and  the  journey  is  resumed.  This 
is  travelling  with  dogs  and  is  a  correct  de- 
scription of  how  it  was  carried  on  for  many 
years  in  what  were  known  as  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territories. 

Of  course  there  were  the  variations  inci- 
dent to  fierce  blizzard  storms  assailing,  or 
savage  wolves  attacking,  while  en  route  or 
when  sheltered  at  the  camp  fire. 


268         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

Then  there  were  sometimes  long  delays. 
Some  were  caused  by  the  great  cracks  or 
fissures  in  the  vast  icefields  where,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  ice  was  several  feet 
thick,  yet  so  great  was  the  contractive 
power  of  the  frost  that  these  fissures  sud- 
denly opened,  and  some  were  so  wide  and 
long  that  great  were  the  difficulties  and 
long  the  delays  in  getting  across  them.  We 
could  sometimes,  over  the  narrow  ones,  im- 
provise a  bridge  out  of  a  long  dog  sled,  but 
when  the  cracks  were  many  yards  wide  and 
extended  each  way  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  we  found  the  crossing  over  no  easy 
matter. 

A  raft  of  ice  was  the  best  or,  putting  it 
more  accurately,  the  only  way  possible  for 
us  to  safely  reach  the  other  shore.  This  raft 
we  made  by  use  of  our  axes.  We  selected 
a  spot  where  there  would  be  the  great- 
est economy  in  the  ice  cutting,  for  at  the 
best  place  the  job  before  us  was  a  long 
and  laborious  one.  Then  the  axes  were 
kept  busy  and  at  length  a  great  raft  of  ice 
was  cut  loose  and  on  it  we  embarked  our 
dogs  and  sleds,  and  by  various  manoeu- 
vrings  we  managed  to  reach  the  farther 
shore. 


Still  on  the  Trail  with  the  Dogs     269 

We  were  sometimes  also  sadly  delayed  in 
the  forests  by  the  numerous  wind-felled 
trees,  which  often  seemed  to  be  almost  insur- 
mountable barriers  to  our  progress.  The 
axes  again  were  called  into  service,  and  it 
did  at  times  seem  as  though  we  were  spend- 
ing half  of  our  time  in  clearing  out  a  trail 
along  which  it  was  possible  for  our  patient 
dogs  to  pull  our  heavy  sleds. 

Thus,  with  varying  fortunes,  on  and  on 
we  plodded,  until  at  length  the  smoke  from 
the  tops  of  the  distant  wigwams  and  the 
noisy,  hostile  reception  of  innumerable  In- 
dian dogs,  told  us  that  our  long  trip  by  dog- 
train,  for  the  present,  was  about  ended. 


XVIII 

OUR  DOGS  IN  SUMMER  TIME 

AS  a  general  thing  the  dogs  have  a  long 
holiday  during  the  summer  months. 
There  are  no  roads  and  consequently 
no  land  vehicles.  So  truly  is  this  the  case 
that  among  some  of  the  northern  tribes  the 
missionaries,  in  translating  such  words  in 
the  Bible  as  "carriage,"  "chariot,"  or 
"  waggon,"  found  nothing  else  available 
than  "  dog  sled."  It  seemed  rather  start- 
ling to  hear  a  brother  missionary  tell  his 
people,  through  the  interpreter,  that  when 
the  venerable  patriarch  Jacob  went  down  to 
join  his  son  Joseph  in  Egypt,  he  made  the 
journey  in  a  dog  sled ! 

As  the  Indians  have  no  work  for  their 
dogs  in  the  summer,  they  never  or  very 
seldom  feed  them.  They  leave  them  to  for- 
age for  themselves.  They  are  the  scaven- 
gers of  the  country,  and  all  the  sanitation 
of  the  land  is  left  in  their  charge,  and  well 
do  they  do  the  work. 

270 


Our  Dogs  in  Summer  Time        27! 

The  dogs,  however,  depend  principally 
upon  their  cleverness  in  capturing  fish  for 
their  food.  Some  of  them  are  ever  haunt- 
ing the  shallow  places  and  bays,  and  are 
quick  to  notice  the  fins  of  the  great  jackfish 
when  they  crowd  in  so  near  the  shore  that 
the  shallow  water  betrays  their  presence. 
This  is  the  clever  dog's  opportunity,  and  it 
is  interesting  to  observe  how  noiselessly 
they  can  wade  out  and  endeavour  to  cap- 
ture the  great  fish.  We  have  said  "  en- 
deavour" for  there  are  jackfish  so  large 
that  no  single  dog  can  capture  one  alone. 
Still  the  plucky  dog  will  make  the  attempt 
and  often  he  returns  with  fore-legs  limping 
as  a  result  of  the  powerful  blow  which  the 
muscular  fish  gave  him  as  he  attempted  to 
seize  it.  Yet  wounded  and  defeated,  he  is 
ever  ready  to  try  again. 

The  large  Huskie  dogs  can  grip  and  hold 
in  their  teeth,  jackfish  up  to  ten  or  twelve 
pounds  weight,  but  I  have  never  seen  a  dog 
able  to  capture  a  twenty  pound  fish,  and  in 
those  days  there  were  scores  of  such,  and 
even  heavier  ones,  in  every  bay.  The  har- 
vest time  for  jackfish  is  from  the  latter  part 
of  May  into  July.  After  that  the  dogs  have 
to  be  on  the  lookout  for  other  varieties  of 


272         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

fish.  In  thus  hunting  for  their  living,  I 
have  known  dogs  to  wander  over  a  hundred 
miles  away  from  their  homes,  and  to  re- 
main away  for  weeks. 

Once,  when  travelling  in  summer  in  my 
canoe,  with  two  Indians,  as  we  paddled 
around  a  big  bend  in  a  river  we  saw  in  the 
distance  what  we  first  thought  was  a  pack 
of  wolves.  We  quickly  paddled  back  out 
of  sight  and  got  ready  our  rifle,  and  loaded 
the  two  shot-guns  with  ball. 

Then  cautiously  coming  on  again,  the 
sharp-eyed  Indians  soon  discovered  that  our 
imaginary  wolves  were  a  pack  of  Indian 
dogs.  They  were  industriously  fishing  in  a 
broad,  shallow  bay  at  the  river  side,  and  to 
judge  from  their  sleek,  fat  bodies  they  were 
having  a  good  time. 

We  did  not  disturb  them,  and  they  were 
so  intent  on  their  fishing  that  they  hardly 
gave  us  passing  notice.  And  of  course  they 
were  too  wise  to  bark  or  rather  howl  at  us, 
as  the  noise  would  have  disturbed  the  fish, 
which  was  what  they  did  not  desire. 

We  watched  them  for  some  time  with 
much  interest,  and  saw  two  dogs  working 
together  and  successfully  landing  quite  a 
large  fish.  Sometimes  twenty  or  thirty 


Our  Dogs  in  Summer  Time        273 

dogs,  from  several  Indian  families,  will  sud- 
denly disappear  shortly  after  the  ice  melta 
in  the  early  summer  and  will  not  return 
until  the  ice  is  again  forming  in  the 
autumn. 

The  fun  begins  when  it  is  seen  that  some 
of  the  mother  dogs  are  followed  by  litters  of 
puppies,  two  or  three  months  old.  These 
alert  little  dogs  are  as  wild  as  young  wolves. 
Never  having  seen  a  human  being,  they  re- 
sent all  attempts  at  familiarity  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians,  especially  of  the  boys,  and 
bite  most  viciously  on  every  side.  They  act 
as  though  they  are  astonished  at  their 
mothers'  familiarity  with  the  Indians  and 
whine  and  cry  to  return  to  their  usual 
haunts.  It  does  not  take  the  Indians  long 
to  familiarize  them  with  their  surroundings 
and  they  say  that  puppies  that  come  in  this 
way  make  the  best  of  sleigh  dogs. 

I  never  let  my  dogs  run  wild  like  this. 
Jack  and  Cuffy  were  always  house  dogs, 
and  occasionally  one  or  two  others.  When 
I  did  not  need  any  of  my  trains  for  plough- 
ing they  were  all  sent  out  on  an  island  in 
the  lake,  with  an  Indian  fisherman,  who, 
plentifully  supplied  with  nets,  kept  them  in 
good  condition  throughout  the  summer. 


274        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

I  did  have  some  work  for  my  dogs  after  I 
had  been  in  the  country  a  short  time. 

We  found  that  potatoes  and  other  vege- 
tables grew  to  perfection  in  our  garden,  and 
that  even  wheat  and  other  grains,  if  sown 
just  as  soon  as  the  frost  left  the  ground, 
also  ripened  perfectly. 

So  to  help  the  Indians  I  secured,  after  a 
good  deal  of  trouble,  a  good  plough  in  the 
Red  Kiver  Settlement.  I  had  to-  take  it 
in  a  row-boat  four  hundred  miles  to  my 
home.  I  made  a  harrow  out  of  birch  wood 
and  some  iron  teeth  which  I  had  dragged 
out  on  my  dog  sled  with  seed  grain. 

In  the  spring  I  harnessed  up  six  or  eight 
dogs  to  my  plough  and  without  very  much 
trouble  I  succeeded  in  ploughing  up  several 
small  fields  and  gardens.  The  Indians  had 
nothing  better  than  strong  hoes,  and  so  they 
were  pleased  to  have  me  help  them  prepare 
their  potato  patches  with  the  plough. 

After  sowing  my  grain  in  my  own  fields, 
I  harnessed  my  dogs  to  my  harrow  and  so 
had  all  nicely  covered.  Some  seasons  I  did 
very  well. 

Eight  dogs  arranged  as  four  teams, 
dragged  the  plough  along  through  the  soil 
very  well.  The  trouble  was  not  that  they 


Our  Dogs  in  Summer  Time        275 

were  not  strong  enough.  They  seemed  to 
consider  the  whole  thing  a  big  joke.  They 
were  full  of  fun,  and  when  started  in  the 
furrow  considered  that  it  was  their  duty  to 
get  across  that  field  as  quickly  as  possible. 

Woe  to  the  man  between  the  handles  of 
the  plough  if,  when  the  dogs  were  strain- 
ing at  their  work,  he  let  the  point  come  out 
of  the  ground  and  thus  lost  his  grip  on  the 
land.  In  an  instant  the  dogs  were  off,  and 
he  was  indeed  a  clever  ploughman  if  he  was 
quick  and  skillful  enough  to  get  that  plough 
point  in  the  ground  again  before  the  active 
dogs  had  jerked  him  and  the  plough  to  the 
end  of  the  furrow. 

I  had  a  great  deal  of  amusement  in  try- 
ing to  make  ploughmen  out  of  some  of  the 
big  Indians.  Great  stalwart  hunters  that 
would  face  a  big  bear  without  flinching, 
with  only  their  knife  as  a  weapon,  simply 
quailed  before,  or  rather  behind,  that 
plough.  Active  and  alert  as  they  generally 
were,  its  control  with  eight  lively  dogs  as 
the  motive  power  was  something  more  than 
they  had  been  accustomed  to,  and  at  first 
was  a  puzzle  to  them. 

They  soon,  however,  mastered  it,  but  it 
was  noticed  that  new  hands  at  first  insisted 


276        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

on  having  a  person  walk  on  ahead  between 
the  two  leading  dogs  to  stop  them  if  any- 
thing went  wrong  behind. 

To  persons  who  have  not  in  this  or  other 
ways  tested  the  strength  of  the  dogs  it  is 
simply  marvellous  what  they  are  able  to  do. 
They  seem  to  have  a  latent  strength,  which, 
when  excited  they  are  able  to  put  forth,  that 
is  almost  incredible  except  to  those  who 
have  witnessed  it. 

I  have  had  six  dogs  harnessed  to  a  sled 
on  which  rested  the  end  of  a  great  stick  of 
green  spruce  timber,  thirty-six  feet  long  and 
ten  inches  square.  The  trail  on  which  they 
were  dragging  that  heavy  load  was  any- 
thing but  good,  and  so  it  was  apparently  as 
much  as  they  could  do  to  move  it  slowly 
along.  Tongues  were  out  and  the  steady 
fellows  were  all  pulling  in  perfect  unison, 
and  it  seemed  as  though  it  would  be  cruel 
to  try  and  urge  them  to  quicken  their  pace. 
But  while  we  were  loth  to  do  it,  there  was 
something  else  that  did  it  and  the  burst  of 
speed  and  strength  which  followed  on  the 
part  of  the  dogs  was  a  revelation  to  us. 

A  beautiful  fox  looking  for  rabbits  sud- 
denly took  it  into  his  head  to  come  out 
from  the  dense  forest,  and  as  he  crossed 


Our  Dogs  in  Summer  Time        277 

the  trail  not  a  hundred  yards  in  front,  he 
stopped  for  a  minute  on  a  little  knoll  and 
saucily  yelped  out  his  little  defiant  barks  at 
the  approaching  dogs.  This  was  too  much 
for  them  to  stand,  and  so  with  a  mad  rush 
they  were  off.  Heavy  as  that  timber  was, 
it  did  not  seem  so  just  now  to  those  excited 
dogs  as  away  they  dashed  after  that  saucy 
fox.  Not  far,  however,  did  they  go  before 
the  head  of  the  sleigh  struck  against  a  tree 
with  such  violence  that  it  was  not  only  com- 
pletely smashed,  but  the  dogs  were  jerked 
back  with  such  force  that  I  was  agreeably 
surprised  when  I  found  that  no  bones  were 
broken. 

In  some  places,  where  there  were  long 
stretches  of  open  beaches  on  the  shore,  dogs 
wrere  sometimes  used  with  tracking  lines  to 
drag  the  boats  along.  This  was  not  always 
much  of  a  success.  It,  however,  afforded 
some  amusement  as  well  as  variety  to  an 
afternoon's  outing  in  a  skiff  or  canoe,  to  be 
thus  pulled  along  by  the  motive  power  of 
four  dogs  running  on  the  shore,  attached  to 
a  rope,  say,  two  hundred  feet  long. 


XIX 

CUI BONO? 

IT  may  well  be  asked,  What  were  the 
results  of  all  this  dog-travelling?    What 
were  the  returns  for  all  these  hardships 
and  risks,  as  well  as  for  the  considerable  ex- 
pense that  must  necessarily  have  been  in- 
curred. 

These  trips  were  not  taken  in  the  pursuit 
of  scientific  objects,  even  if  missionaries 
have  made  rare  discoveries,  and  have  added 
much  to  the  sum  total  of  the  world's  knowl- 
edge. They  were  not  taken  by  mere  seekers 
after  the  precious  metals  that  nature  had 
hidden  away  in  the  remote  regions,  still  un- 
explored, and  yet  the  news  of  the  existence 
of  some  of  the  finest  mines  in  the  world  has 
come  through  missionaries.  These  men 
were  not  fortune-seekers,  for  their  lot  was 
to  live  among  a  people  so  poor  that  the 
richest  of  them  could  carry  all  of  their  pos- 
sessions on  their  backs,  with  the  exception 
of  their  dogs. 

Yet  judging  by  the  results  accomplished, 
278 


Cui  Bono?  279 

the  transformation  wrought  in  the  lives  and 
conduct  of  the  Indians  and  the  security  to 
life  and  property,  and  the  general  content- 
ment of  the  people,  we  see,  even  if  this  were 
all,  abundant  reason  for  thankfulness  that 
the  people  could  be  reached  even  by  dog- 
travelling  in  winter,  as  well  as  by  canoeing 
in  summer.  That  there  have  not  for  many 
years  been  uprisings  among  the  Indians 
against  the  whites,  as  well  as  inter-tribal 
wars  among  themselves,  is  not  altogether 
owing  to  the  rule  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  wise  and  prudent  though  it  was, 
but  it  was  more  owing  to  the  presence  and 
teachings  among  them  of  the  missionaries 
of  the  various  churches. 

In  studying  this  question,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that,  as  has  been  stated  else- 
where (but  we  desire  to  here  emphasize  it, 
as  it  is  so  easily  overlooked),  there  are  vast 
regions  and  many  communities  of  Indians 
that  could  not  possibly  have  been  reached 
in  any  other  way  than  by  dog  trains.  Ere 
the  missionary  did  reach  them,  they  were 
living  lives  degraded  and  immoral  and  were 
the  slaves  of  most  depressing  superstitions. 
The  Indian  is  naturally  religious  in  his 
primitive  condition.  To  him  everything  is 


28o        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

"good"  or  "bad  medicine."  The  two  an- 
tagonistic forces  of  good  and  bad  are  ever 
at  work  and  he  is  the  object  of  love  or  hate. 

Hence  without  Divine  Kevelation,  he 
feels  that,  like  a  leaf  blown  hither  and 
thither,  he  is  a  victim  between  the  two  con- 
tending forces.  Hence,  he  is  often  in  great 
terror  of  coming  disasters.  Until  the  mis- 
sions broke  the  power  of  the  conjurers  or 
medicine  men,  the  great  majority  of  the 
people  lived  in  constant  dread. 

The  power  and  influence  for  evil,  some  of 
these  famous  conjurers  had  over  the  masses 
of  the  natives,  was  almost  incredible.  They 
had  made  the  people  believe  that  by  their 
conjuring  they  could  call  down  all  sorts  of 
evils  upon  them,  that  they  could  take  away 
their  loved  ones  or  rob  them  of  their  health, 
with  a  word.  They  arrogated  to  themselves 
power  over  the  game  in  the  forest  and  the 
fish  in  the  lakes,  could  decide  which  hunter 
should  succeed  and  which  should  fail.  So 
deeply  had  they  bound  the  people  down  un- 
der this  malignant  power  that  they  ruled 
as  despots  over  them  and  demanded  and  re- 
ceived the  best  of  everything  the  people 
possessed.  To  enforce  and  retain  this  su- 
perstitious power  over  the  people  they 


I 


A  MEDICINE  MAN. 


Cui  Bono?  281 

owned  the  secret  of  manufacturing  most 
deadly  medicines,  and  they  were  not  slow  in 
using  them  to  terrorize  the  community  by 
the  mysterious  death  of  some  one  who  had 
been  presumptuous  enough  to  question  their 
pretensions. 

This  baneful  class  is  now  about  extinct, 
thanks  to  the  courage  and  self-sacrifice  of 
the  missionaries,  who  by  canoe  and  dog- 
trains  travelled  to  those  distant  interior 
regions  and  by  their  tact  and  teachings 
have  lifted  the  people  up  from  that  dark 
nightmare  of  fear  and  dread  under  which, 
for  generations,  they  lived.  Even  some  of 
these  once  dangerous  characters  have  been 
transformed  into  honoured  citizens,  while 
those  who  still  cling  to  the  old  life  have  so 
lost  their  power  that  their  malisons  are  now 
laughed  at  by  the  people. 

If  it  were  thought  necessary,  we  could 
give  many  individual  cases  where  the  trans- 
formation wrought  by  the  reception  of  the 
Gospel  brought  in  among  the  Indians  in 
this  way,  has  been  as  marked  and  delight- 
ful as  is  recorded  in  any  missionary  annals. 

Some  of  these  red  men,  who  once  were 
bitter  opposers  of  the  Glad  Tidings  thus 
brought  them,  have  become  ministers  and 


282         My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

missionaries  to  their  own  people.  Others 
are  duly  qualified  school  teachers  and  now 
among  their  own  people  are  doing  a  grand 
work  in  wisely  educating  the  coming  gen- 
eration. 

Many  of  them,  after  they  had  received 
Christianity,  became  so  anxious  to  improve 
their  condition  that  they  have  exchanged 
their  old  methods  of  depending  entirely  on 
the  uncertainties  of  the  chase  and  have  ac- 
cepted from  Canada's  Government,  reserva- 
tions where  they  are  cultivating  the  land 
and,  by  honest,  patient  industry,  are  ma- 
king a  comfortable  living  for  themselves 
and  their  children. 

These  transformations  have  not  been 
easily  brought  about.  Long  years  of  per- 
sistent toil  and  patient  endurance  were 
necessary.  Much  is  required  to  induce  a 
people  to  completely  change  their  mode  of 
living.  Yet  it  has  been  done  by  many  of 
these  Indians,  and  marvellous  indeed  is  the 
completeness  of  the  transformation. 

Comfortable  houses  have  taken  the  place 
of  the  old  cold  wigwams.  The  garb  of  civi- 
lization has  supplemented  the  skin  dress  of 
former  times  and  abundance  of  daily  food 
is  now  the  normal  condition  of  things 


Cui  Bono?  283 

where  formerly  it  was  frequent  starvation 
or  something  very  near  to  it,  followed  by  a 
gorge  when  a  reindeer  happened  to  be  shot 
or  a  bear's  den  raided. 

The  beneficent  changes  wrought  in  the 
beliefs  and  conduct  of  the  men  towards  the 
women,  if  nothing  else  had  been  accom- 
plished, have  been  sufficient  to  repay  a 
thousandfold  for  all  the  hardships  endured 
and  even  for  the  lives  lost  in  their  accom- 
plishment. 

As  in  nearly  all  pagan  lands  the  condition 
of  women  was  most  deplorable.  None  of 
the  founders  of  the  world's  systems  of  re- 
ligion, except  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  had 
anything  good  to  say  of  woman.  Her  in- 
feriority and  even  that  she  was  soulless  was 
widely  taught. 

The  great  Founder  of  Christianity  taught 
the  great  lessons  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes, 
and  by  His  own  loving  deeds  and  words 
lifted  woman  to  her  true  position  and  left 
His  example,  as  well  as  His  words,  to  be 
carried  out  in  all  the  ages.  This  duty  is 
one  of  the  missionary's  highest  joys.  And 
in  the  acceptance  of  Christ's  teachings  by 
the  people  to  whom  the  missionary  goes,  fol- 
lowed by  the  speedy  uplifting  of  women,  he 


284        My  Dogs  in  the  Northland 

meets  with  a  recompense  that  pays  him  for 
all  his  dangers  in  blizzard  storms  and  in 
frigid  camps,  even  if  the  bitter  cold  has 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  chilled  him  into  that 
exquisite  but  delusive  delirium  which,  un- 
less he  be  speedily  aroused  therefrom,  is 
quickly  followed  by  death. 

When  first  he  wends  his  way  with  his 
dog-trains  into  the  pagan  regions  he  finds 
that  although  the  Indian  men  are  most  ad- 
mirable hunters,  yet  the  shot  deer  has  to  be 
carried  home  on  the  back  of  the  mother  or 
wife,  while  the  man,  with  his  gun  on  his 
shoulder,  stalks  on  ahead.  When  the  pa- 
tient woman  has  skinned  and  cooked  the 
venison,  she  has  to  go  and  sit  apart  with 
the  girls  and  dogs  while  the  men  and  boys 
fill  themselves  with  the  savoury  meat,  Then 
what  is  left  they  are  allowed  to  share  with 
the  dogs.  Often  did  the  men  amuse  them- 
selves by  throwing  the  partially  picked 
bones  to  see  them  fought  for  by  the  dogs 
and  women.  In  some  places  in  those  days 
it  was  a  sin  for  a  woman  to  grow  old,  for 
then,  when  her  strength  departed  and  she 
could  neither  snare  rabbits  nor  catch 
fish,  she  was  cruelly  put  to  death.  But 
the  dog  bells  on  the  collars  of  the  dogs 


Cui  Bono?  285 

of  the  missionaries  have  rung  in  a  brighter 
and  a  better  day  in  place  of  those  old 
dark  times,  which  are  now  almost  gone. 
In  many  places  so  true  is  this  that  the  very 
remembrance  of  them  is  now  as  a  hideous 
dream  or  nightmare  which  they  would,  if 
they  could,  speedily  forget.  The  things 
they  once  loved  they  now  hate,  and  that 
with  such  intensity  that  they  are  grieved  if 
anyone  casually  refers  to  them. 

But  why  recount  more?  Surely  these 
marvellous  transformations,  and  the  fact 
that  now  there  are  many  happy  Christian 
homes  with  all  that  this  implies,  where  once 
even  the  name  itself  was  unknown,  is  a  suf- 
ficient return  for  all  that  wras  endured  on 
all  the  coldest,  hardest  and  most  painful 
trips  ever  made  by  the  missionaries  with 
the  dog-trains. 


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